Short Interest in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Increases By 6.1%

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

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $36.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.85. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $34.89 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.21.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank reduced 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 research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has 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 $51.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares during the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $410,494,000 after buying an additional 127,251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.