Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,748,122 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 194,888 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $119,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth $40,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Dbs Bank decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. CICC Research reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.60 to $42.30 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Johnson Rice reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.01.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of FCX opened at $39.78 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $49.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.63. The firm has a market cap of $57.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 21.13%.

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.