Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.15 Per Share

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the natural resource company on Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08.

Freeport-McMoRan has raised its dividend by an average of 81.7% annually over the last three years. Freeport-McMoRan has a dividend payout ratio of 14.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Freeport-McMoRan to earn $2.06 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 14.6%.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 4.7 %

FCX stock traded down $1.91 on Wednesday, reaching $38.71. 12,493,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,779,412. The company has a market cap of $55.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.89. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.92.

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.