Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 66,699 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $84,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after buying an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE FCX opened at $38.86 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.26 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.49 and its 200 day moving average is $45.74.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James boosted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.92.

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.