Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,123,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 50,658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,064,470 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $78,615,000 after purchasing an additional 155,754 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,786 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 9,338 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 4.0 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $38.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.98.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FCX. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.