Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Stock Position Lifted by Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Infrastructure Capital Advisors increased its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 62.9% in the fourth quarter, lifting its holdings to 64,223 shares worth about $3.26 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to FCX, and hedge funds and institutions now own 80.77% of the stock, signaling broad institutional interest.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported strong quarterly results with EPS of $0.57 versus $0.47 expected and revenue of $6.23 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $67.31.

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 62.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,223 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,788 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 127,996 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 60,645 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,714,111 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $290,206,000 after purchasing an additional 485,477 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 727,715 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $36,961,000 after purchasing an additional 322,383 shares in the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,021,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 730,602 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $37,107,000 after purchasing an additional 104,353 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. CICC Research reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.31.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $68.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $64.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.77. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.15 and a 1 year high of $72.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 15.96%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.

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