CCM Investment Advisers LLC Decreases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• CCM Investment Advisers reduced its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 7.4%, selling 22,208 shares and retaining 278,384 shares valued at approximately $16.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.77% of FCX.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with one Strong Buy, 18 Buy, and four Hold ratings; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $70.27.
• Freeport-McMoRan exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $0.74 per share and revenue of $7.03 billion, while declaring a $0.075 quarterly dividend, or $0.30 annually.

CCM Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,384 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 22,208 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 1.6% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. CCM Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $16,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCX. Rovida Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth approximately $51,139,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $360,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,498,267 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $675,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,784,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $1,537,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 5.7%

NYSE:FCX opened at $63.43 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $72.28. The firm has a market cap of $91.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.56.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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