Short Interest in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Drops By 8.5%

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,810,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the June 30th total of 21,640,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 13,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $1.78 on Thursday, hitting $43.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,257,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,659,217. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $62.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.13.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 54,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.78, for a total transaction of $2,781,271.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,652,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,472,832.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,538 shares of company stock worth $9,096,990. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 374.1% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 7,995 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $842,000. Guidance Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 15,400 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,826 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.07.

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.