Hodges Capital Management Inc. Acquires 12,921 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 619,528 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,921 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for about 2.0% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $30,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after buying an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after acquiring an additional 71,883 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 432,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $21,572,000 after acquiring an additional 107,852 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 202,440 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $10,393,000 after purchasing an additional 35,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of FCX opened at $42.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.47. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.04 and a 12 month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.92.

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.