New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,246,076 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 72,749 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $62,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $45.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.05 billion, a PE ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.33. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for 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%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

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.