Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Short Interest Up 27.2% in February

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,500,000 shares, a growth of 27.2% from the January 31st total of 20,830,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.66. 18,412,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,119,454. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.48. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $34.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

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.