Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 744,889 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,213 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $28,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $37.78 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The company has a market capitalization of $54.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.81 and a 200 day moving average of $43.90.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.