KBC Group NV Purchases 370,401 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 351.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 475,754 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 370,401 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $23,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the third quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 47,144 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $42.69 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.29 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The stock has a market cap of $61.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 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.