Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Makes New $9.47 Million Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Ardsley Advisory Partners LP acquired 250,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc., valued at approximately $9.5 million, making FCX about 1.8% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have varying opinions on Freeport-McMoRan, with a moderate buy rating and a target price ranging from $50.00 to $56.00.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported earnings of $0.54 per share, exceeding expectations, with a quarterly revenue of $7.58 billion, up 14.5% year-over-year.

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 250,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $9,465,000. Freeport-McMoRan makes up approximately 1.8% of Ardsley Advisory Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.37. The stock had a trading volume of 8,068,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,633,279. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.59. The company's 50-day moving average price is $43.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

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.