Avanza Fonder AB Invests $5.77 Million in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 151,628 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,774,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $162,964,000 after buying an additional 2,515,103 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $139,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.2 %

FCX stock opened at $40.12 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.40.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results 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. The business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.42.

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.