Independent Advisor Alliance Increases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,418 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after buying an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 432,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $21,572,000 after acquiring an additional 107,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 202,440 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $10,393,000 after acquiring an additional 35,972 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $43.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $36.04 and a one year high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.91 and a 200 day moving average of $46.99.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FCX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

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.