Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 98,738 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in 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 period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.09.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.4 %

FCX stock traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.63. 11,931,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,749,615. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.19 and a 200-day moving average of $39.60. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. 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 company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

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.