Senator Investment Group LP Lowers Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Senator Investment Group LP reduced its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 579,720 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 56,119 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for about 1.4% of Senator Investment Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $28,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 26,699 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 597,513 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,435,000 after buying an additional 99,662 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,515,355 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $107,079,000 after buying an additional 105,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $51.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.75 billion, a PE ratio of 45.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised 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 downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

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.