Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 24,698 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 9.8%, selling 24,698 shares in the second quarter and retaining 226,054 shares valued at approximately $9.8 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $0.54 earnings per share and $7.58 billion in revenue, which represents a 14.5% increase from the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 22.73% as of the last reporting period.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 226,054 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 24,698 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $9,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.96. 21,115,490 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,596,498. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.43. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $52.61. The company has a market cap of $64.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.