Capital Research Global Investors Reduces Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Capital Research Global Investors lowered its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,176,617 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 6,848,218 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,786,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCX. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Key Financial Inc increased 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 purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 9.1%

FCX opened at $63.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.17. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.09.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted 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 company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 15.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on FCX. HSBC lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.