Castle Hook Partners LP Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,534,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,507,000. Freeport-McMoRan makes up about 0.7% of Castle Hook Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FCX. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $721,806,000 after buying an additional 7,192,955 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,366,596 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $882,050,000 after buying an additional 3,894,872 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.31.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $68.95 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $72.28. The stock has a market cap of $99.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.74 and a 200-day moving average of $59.77.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.