Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Acquired by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,327 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,692 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,734,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,987 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,421,549,000 after buying an additional 5,661,958 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,046,280,000 after buying an additional 6,054,537 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,162,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $498,270,000 after buying an additional 1,815,285 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,968,781 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $453,138,000 after buying an additional 2,133,846 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 4.4%

NYSE:FCX opened at $39.35 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $56.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.56. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $49.21.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Clarkson Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Johnson Rice dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.01.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.