Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,090,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the December 31st total of 24,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $35.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $51.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.35. 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 has a 12 month low of $35.46 and a 12 month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.46.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,436,455,000 after buying an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after buying an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $410,494,000 after acquiring an additional 127,251 shares in 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.