AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 62,663 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,529 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,663 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $13,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $50.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. 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 $72.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

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.