Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Invests $11.38 Million in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management acquired 180,937 Freeport-McMoRan shares worth approximately $11.38 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of FCX.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with one Strong Buy, 20 Buy and four Hold ratings. The stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $70.27.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, beating estimates of $0.62, while revenue reached $7.03 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, representing a 0.4% annualized yield.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 180,937 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $11,379,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. NBH Bank acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, August 27th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $72.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $80.24. The company's fifty day moving average is $66.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is 14.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director directly owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271 over the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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