California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 140,006,047 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Freeport-McMoRan stake by purchasing 140 million shares in the second quarter, bringing its ownership to 142.2 million shares, or 9.9% of the company, valued at approximately $8.94 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Freeport-McMoRan receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $70.27, although some analysts recently downgraded or maintained neutral ratings.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly earnings of $0.74 per share, beating estimates of $0.62, on revenue of $7.03 billion. Shares opened at $76.61, near the company’s 52-week high, while the company maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 6,434.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,181,964 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 140,006,047 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 9.90% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $8,941,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 11.6% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,539 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Essex Bank increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Freedom Broker lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Erste Group Bank began coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $76.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $110.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.56. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $80.24. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Stephen Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 122,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a global mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical wiring, construction, transportation, industrial equipment and renewable-energy technologies. The company also produces gold as a byproduct of its copper operations and molybdenum, an alloying metal used in steelmaking and other industrial applications.

Freeport-McMoRan operates major mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.

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