Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,941,662 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,983,947 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,941,662 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.84% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $5,504,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $39.97 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.84. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $49.12. The stock has a market cap of $57.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its 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 net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.68.

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.