Avestar Capital LLC Increases Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,916 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $536,038,000 after purchasing an additional 530,676 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,343,109 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $502,675,000 after purchasing an additional 56,499 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $410,494,000 after buying an additional 127,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,943,074 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $288,833,000 after buying an additional 1,538,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.0 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $43.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.04 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.90 and a 200 day moving average of $47.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

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.