Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Acquired by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Ferguson Wellman Capital Management increased its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 4% in the third quarter, acquiring 37,713 additional shares for a total of 971,430 shares valued at approximately $68 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.77% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on FCX, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.87. Recent target increases included RBC to $85 and BNP Paribas Exane to $82.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, exceeding the $0.62 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $7.03 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, representing a 0.4% annualized yield.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 971,430 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 37,713 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $68,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boltwood Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.4% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 10,269 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,465 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 15,872 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $253,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 53,742 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,762,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 865 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total value of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 211,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $73.03. The stock had a trading volume of 5,566,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,339,962. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.54 and a twelve month high of $80.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.56.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $0.0750 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc NYSE: FCX is a leading international 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 systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.

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