Creative Planning Boosts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,693 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 45,212 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $9,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,427,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,143,562 shares during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about $417,752,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $712,600,000 after purchasing an additional 4,396,309 shares in the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $162,464,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. 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 note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $50.38 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.61. The firm has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a PE ratio of 44.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $55.24. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

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.