Woodline Partners LP Boosts Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 13,452.9%, acquiring a total of 1,201,197 shares worth approximately $45.5 million.
• Many institutional investors are showing increased interest in Freeport-McMoRan, with over 80.77% of the stock now owned by such investors, indicating strong market confidence.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported an EPS of $0.54 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 14.5% year-over-year revenue growth.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 13,452.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,201,197 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 1,192,334 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.08% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $45,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at $21,976,000. Peloton Wealth Strategists grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 149.0% during the 1st quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists now owns 74,875 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,835,000 after purchasing an additional 44,800 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $374,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.7% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,548,190 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $58,468,000 after buying an additional 40,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth approximately $3,786,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:FCX opened at $46.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $67.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.94. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $52.61.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.

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