Sentry Investment Management LLC Purchases 699 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,727 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $26,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $46.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.20 and a 200 day moving average of $47.64. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 21.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 research report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

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.