Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Short Interest Up 26.5% in April

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,880,000 shares, a growth of 26.5% from the March 31st total of 18,090,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 14,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FCX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 4.7 %

NYSE FCX traded down $2.47 on Tuesday, hitting $49.94. 16,744,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,155,595. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.51. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $52.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

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.