Allstate Corp Invests $1.57 Million in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 41,246 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,571,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 22,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 20,277 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 12,965 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $38.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.14 and its 200-day moving average is $41.98. 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 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

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.