Aviva PLC Acquires 773,969 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 257.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,074,480 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 773,969 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.07% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $46,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FCX. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.01.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $39.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.63. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $49.12.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.13%.

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.