Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases 19,573 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 50.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,182 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 19,573 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,451,285,000 after purchasing an additional 305,912 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,756,034 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $662,123,000 after purchasing an additional 709,114 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $279,977,000 after purchasing an additional 102,466 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,393,868 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $238,427,000 after acquiring an additional 986,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,232,130 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $265,302,000 after acquiring an additional 840,900 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.2 %

FCX stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.50. The company had a trading volume of 18,953,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,995,083. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.20. The stock has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

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.