Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New $1.58 Million Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 31,639 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $1,579,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,028,452 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $536,038,000 after purchasing an additional 530,676 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,343,109 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $502,675,000 after purchasing an additional 56,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $410,494,000 after purchasing an additional 127,251 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.07. The company had a trading volume of 9,468,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,588,606. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.04 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $46.27 and its 200-day moving average is $46.47. The stock has a market cap of $60.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.86. 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 (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Six equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.