Sigma Planning Corp Purchases 25,977 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 74.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 60,716 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,977 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 73,002 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $62,478,000 after purchasing an additional 272,726 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Finally, Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 175.4% during the 4th quarter. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. now owns 1,379,760 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $70,078,000 after buying an additional 878,760 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.5%

FCX opened at $61.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.93. The company has a market capitalization of $87.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $72.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 15.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. HSBC increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, CICC Research dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.77.

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.