Patton Fund Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Patton Fund Management Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1,152.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,348 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,451 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924,573 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $721,806,000 after purchasing an additional 7,192,955 shares during the period. Finally, PointState Capital LP purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $198,523,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.2%

FCX stock opened at $62.31 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $72.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.61 and its 200 day moving average is $60.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. CICC Research decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.