North Star Investment Management Corp. Acquires 17,315 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 17,315 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.78. 1,746,342 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,882,661. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.91. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.64%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

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.