Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Raises Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,078 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 5,674 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth about $439,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $2,761,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at $641,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,172,219 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $258,193,000 after buying an additional 440,580 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 47,663 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 15,800 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $38.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $54.85 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.98 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.