Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 66,699 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $84,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,698,442 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $5,675,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,833 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,427,583,000 after buying an additional 13,143,562 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,882,874 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,734,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392,800 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $712,600,000 after acquiring an additional 4,396,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 14,454,789 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $679,664,000 after acquiring an additional 200,877 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded down $2.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.36. The stock had a trading volume of 16,197,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,333,747. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.57. The company has a market capitalization of $66.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.91.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm 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%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

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.