Stevens Capital Management LP Raises Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 50.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,182 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,573 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,451,285,000 after purchasing an additional 305,912 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,756,034 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $662,123,000 after purchasing an additional 709,114 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $279,977,000 after purchasing an additional 102,466 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,393,868 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $238,427,000 after purchasing an additional 986,703 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,232,130 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $265,302,000 after purchasing an additional 840,900 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,953,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,995,083. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.20. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $52.42. The company has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a PE ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. HSBC raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

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.