Legato Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 49,650 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $181,490,000 after buying an additional 2,813,845 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 7,018,624 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $282,991,000 after buying an additional 2,132,708 shares during the period. Kirkoswald Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $82,754,200,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 87.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,115,008 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $152,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,921,792 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $61.92 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.35. The company has a market capitalization of $89.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $70.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.72.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.