Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

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

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.15. 2,307,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,784,993. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.42. The firm has a market cap of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.20. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

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.