Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 86,813 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.3% in the first quarter, buying 86,813 shares and bringing its total holding to 2.11 million shares worth about $124 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $0.57 versus $0.47 expected and revenue of $6.23 billion versus $5.73 billion expected, with revenue up 8.8% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, while analysts remain generally constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $68.77.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,109,513 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 86,813 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $123,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 73,002 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $62,478,000 after buying an additional 272,726 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 175.4% in the 4th quarter. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. now owns 1,379,760 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $70,078,000 after buying an additional 878,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:FCX opened at $61.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.93.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm's revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. CICC Research reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.77.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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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