Traders Purchase High Volume of Freeport-McMoRan Call Options (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 92,303 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 48% compared to the average daily volume of 62,442 call options.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $48.31 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.33. The firm has a market cap of $69.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.75, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $27,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.