Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Holdings Lifted by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 594,839 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,588 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $22,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $40.31 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.98 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

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.