Benin Management CORP Acquires Shares of 4,896 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Benin Management CORP purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,896 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,734,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,987 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,421,549,000 after buying an additional 5,661,958 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,046,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054,537 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $830,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,642,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,162,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $498,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,285 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $41.36 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $50.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.64 and a 200 day moving average of $40.81. The company has a market capitalization of $59.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.92.

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.