Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $163.39 Million Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,273,080 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 16,969 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $163,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,427,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,143,562 shares during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at about $417,752,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $712,600,000 after buying an additional 4,396,309 shares during the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $162,464,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FCX. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.13. The stock had a trading volume of 11,931,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,936,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.49. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.55 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.90%.

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.