Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 57,778 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 564,017 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,778 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $24,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,394 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 39,940 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 128,882 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 8,494 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $48.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 2.04. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.23.

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.