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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 1.41%.

Freeport-McMoRan has a payout ratio of 13.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:FCX opened at $42.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.00. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $33.98 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm 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 filing with the SEC. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

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.