Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 27th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the natural resource company on Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%.

Freeport-McMoRan has raised its dividend by an average of 128.9% per year over the last three years. Freeport-McMoRan has a dividend payout ratio of 28.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Freeport-McMoRan to earn $2.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.6%.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $44.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $46.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.57.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Eight Capital set a $55.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 534,905 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $22,771,000 after purchasing an additional 253,360 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.