ARS Investment Partners LLC Has $32.28 Million Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 847,770 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,695 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for about 2.9% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $32,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after buying an additional 11,687,982 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $162,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515,103 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $139,183,000 after buying an additional 2,255,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $40.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.20. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 21.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.42.

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.