Prudential PLC Raises Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Prudential PLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX[1] - Free Report[2]) by 102.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,620 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,960 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth £1,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth £25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about £27,000.

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at £28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about £28,000.

Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth £37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter.

80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 4.1 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock[3] opened at £30.34 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of £27.66 and a 12 month high of £55.24.

The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business's fifty day simple moving average is £37.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is £41.61. The company has a market capitalization of £43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX[4] - Get Free Report[5]) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported £0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of £0.36 by (£0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%.

As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a £0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th.

This represents a £0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from £48.00 to £52.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from £51.00 to £46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from £54.00 to £50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock.

Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of £51.25. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Freeport-McMoRan[6]

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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FCX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com[8] to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX[9] - Free Report[10]). This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting.

This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Before you consider Freeport-McMoRan, you'll want to hear this.

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References

1. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
2. ^ Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
3. ^ Freeport-McMoRan stock (www.marketbeat.com)
4. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
5. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
6. ^ View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Freeport-McMoRan (www.marketbeat.com)
7. ^ Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
8. ^ Visit HoldingsChannel.com (www.holdingschannel.com)
9. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
10. ^ Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
11. ^ five stocks (www.marketbeat.com)
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