In the financial blogosphere, there are a multitude of indicators for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) readers to track, but it is smart to take note of a stock’s short sellers. Two indicators we can use are: (a) the percentage of a stock’s float that bears are currently short selling, plus (b) the change in short interest.
Increased shorting usually means what it implies: the market’s big players have turned less fond of a company. Overselling, though, sometimes has a bullish effect on share price, as short sellers may be forced to buy their shares.
Within our database, it’s not a secret that we monitor the smart money’s interest, but it’s eqaully as beneficial to group this data with aggregate short interest data. In some high-profile cases, large investors could disclose that they’re short on a stock, but it’s not an SEC requirement. Nonetheless, some individual investors may want to stay away from heavily shorted equities with above-average hedgie interest, while others may prefer short-squeeze plays. For traders wanting a market-beating piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the latest data surrounding Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX).
Tracking the most recent FINRA data, which is reported twice a month, we can discover that Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) sports a short interest of 4.30% of float. This indicates a 0.6% change from the previous month. With a total float of 40.91M shares, this represents a short ratio of 2.00.
It is also crucial to monitor hedge fund sentiment from their 13F forms. According to our data, Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group had the most valuable call position in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX), worth close to $331 million, comprising 3.9% of its total 13F portfolio. In the second spot is Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, which held a $297.9 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
Also, insider buying is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over activity in other stocks similar to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX). These stocks are Lihua International Inc (NASDAQ:LIWA), Augusta Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEAMEX:AZC), Sterlite Industries India Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SLT), , and Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO). All of these stocks are in the copper industry and their market caps are similar to FCX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Lihua International Inc (NASDAQ:LIWA) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Augusta Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEAMEX:AZC) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sterlite Industries India Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SLT) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) | 19 | 0 | 2 |
This trio of tools–short interest info, hedge fund holdings and insiders’ behavior–are something all readers should track. Although it’s difficult to discover a discernable strategy from short interest information, the latter two give plenty of market beating opportunities if you know where to look.
