Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $48.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.86.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.92.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.