Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Acquires 20,043 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 36.1%, acquiring an additional 20,043 shares for a total of 75,537 shares worth approximately $2.86 million.
• A number of analysts have rated Freeport-McMoRan with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", while the company's average target price is set at $51.00.
• Freeport-McMoRan declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.5% and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 36.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,537 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 20,043 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $366,959,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,214,203,000 after buying an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $830,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,642,810 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,354.9% in the 1st quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 2,641,129 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $100,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,968,781 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $453,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133,846 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of FCX traded up $1.52 on Friday, reaching $43.24. The stock had a trading volume of 10,819,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,287,120. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.63. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.42. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

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.