Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 41,246 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $1,571,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $595,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $857,305,000 after buying an additional 5,001,531 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $162,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515,103 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 136.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,635,724 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $81,655,000 after purchasing an additional 942,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

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Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $4.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $33.91. 18,876,509 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,435,165. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $38.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.51 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.04.

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.