Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys New Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 826,291 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,158,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 190,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $9,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.1% during the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,367 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $507,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 325.4% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 321,839 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,641,000 after acquiring an additional 246,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,028,452 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $536,038,000 after purchasing an additional 530,676 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $43.92 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.09.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.50 to $62.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.07.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.