FCG Investment Co Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

FCG Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,003 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,451,285,000 after purchasing an additional 305,912 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,752,726 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,543,676,000 after purchasing an additional 419,603 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,371,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,451 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 16,647,339 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $708,677,000 after purchasing an additional 595,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,758,947 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $458,008,000 after purchasing an additional 592,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $50.65. 8,913,699 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,552,033. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.30. The firm has a market cap of $72.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FCX. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.