Two Sigma Advisers LP Trims Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 26.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,994,800 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,408,800 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.28% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $199,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in 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 period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 261.3% in the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $42.76 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.62. The company has a market capitalization of $61.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.04 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.