Investors Purchase High Volume of Freeport-McMoRan Call Options (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 92,303 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the average volume of 62,442 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 7.4 %

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $3.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.47. The stock had a trading volume of 16,702,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,214,437. 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 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.26. The company has a market capitalization of $69.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The company 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 was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 178,251 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,588,000 after buying an additional 24,282 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 26,699 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $691,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 63,722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,713,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.