Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $4.30 Million Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 73,200 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 73,002 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,857,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 426.3% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 81,892 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,212,000 after buying an additional 66,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $16,122,000 after buying an additional 213,477 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $62.31 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $72.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 15.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.