Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Declares $0.15 Quarterly Dividend

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the natural resource company on Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th.

Freeport-McMoRan has a payout ratio of 13.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Freeport-McMoRan to earn $2.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.9%.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $39.99 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $33.98 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.98. The firm has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.04.

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.