Evanson Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 8,361 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Evanson Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,361 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. CM Management LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 80.0% in the third quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 72.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 504,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $20,160,000 after buying an additional 212,100 shares during the last quarter. PointState Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 171.9% in the 2nd quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 1,439,447 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $57,578,000 after buying an additional 910,004 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $279,977,000 after acquiring an additional 102,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 57.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,391,230 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $201,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,987 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of FCX stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.99. 20,164,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,994,903. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $47.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.62.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 23.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Eight Capital set a $55.00 price objective on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.95.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.