Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,334,941 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia cut its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 84.5%, selling 1,334,941 shares and retaining 244,911 shares worth approximately $15.4 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of FCX, while insiders sold 26,600 shares worth about $1.8 million over the past three months.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $70.27; Freeport-McMoRan recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 84.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 244,911 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 1,334,941 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $6,619,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,769 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,244,504,000 after purchasing an additional 622,343 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,873,136 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,193,327,000 after purchasing an additional 395,226 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,489,069,000 after purchasing an additional 7,044,775 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012 over the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. Barclays raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a "positive" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, CICC Research reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $77.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $111.71 billion, a PE ratio of 38.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.53. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.15 and a 52 week high of $78.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The business's revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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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