Traders Buy Large Volume of Freeport-McMoRan Call Options (NYSE:FCX)

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

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE FCX opened at $62.31 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $72.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. CICC Research dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Essex Bank lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 18,674 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.