Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Acquired by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,167 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 753 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,604,000 after buying an additional 12,887 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $37.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $54.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.07. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James increased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.92.

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.