Freeport-McMoRan Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 87,879 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 62,664 call options.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.8%

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.31. The stock had a trading volume of 22,089,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,947,344. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $72.28. The firm has a market cap of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.73 and a 200 day moving average of $60.70.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.96%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,603 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $364,000. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $12,392,000. Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about $10,484,000. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about $934,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.