Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Bought by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 21.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,235 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,389 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $5,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCX. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,436,455,000 after acquiring an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,028,452 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $536,038,000 after purchasing an additional 530,676 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,343,109 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $502,675,000 after purchasing an additional 56,499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $41.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.20.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.92.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.