Paloma Partners Management Co Raises Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 233.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 613,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 429,000 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan comprises 1.0% of Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $23,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $37.25 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.79. The company has a market capitalization of $53.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $55.24. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.09.

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.