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

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.15. The stock had a trading volume of 2,307,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,784,993. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.20. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $52.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 43.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Argus increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.07.

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.