Investment Management Corp of Ontario Boosts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 77.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,344 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 36,681 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX traded down $0.58 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,287,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,669,132. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $36.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.07. The company has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 24.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.36.

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.