California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 11,257 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,496,909 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $146,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $58.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.15 and a twelve month high of $72.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.94. The firm has a market cap of $84.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.77.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.