Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Declares $0.07 Quarterly Dividend

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of 0.075 per share by the natural resource company on Monday, August 3rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th.

Freeport-McMoRan has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.6%per year over the last three years. Freeport-McMoRan has a dividend payout ratio of 13.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Freeport-McMoRan to earn $3.50 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 8.6%.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $2.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,522,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,944,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $35.15 and a 52 week high of $72.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. CICC Research reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.27.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.