Boston Partners Grows Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Boston Partners lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 75.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,916,348 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,395,264 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.55% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $404,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 828 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.86.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $68.28 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $72.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company has a market capitalization of $98.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.96%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.