Magnetar Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 1,113%, acquiring a total of 71,022 shares valued at approximately $2.69 million in the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors also boosted their holdings in Freeport-McMoRan, with Stratos Investment Management increasing its stake by 238.5% and Financial Sense Advisors expanding theirs by 527.9%.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Freeport-McMoRan, with estimates now ranging from $51.00 to $56.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 1,113.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,022 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 65,167 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $20,565,000 after buying an additional 115,552 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 127.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 792,901 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $30,194,000 after buying an additional 444,763 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $581,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.67. 3,262,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,419,807. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $43.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.76. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $52.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $65.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.59.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Canada raised Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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.