Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Stake Increased by Lodge Hill Capital LLC

Key Points

• Lodge Hill Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 135.1% during the first quarter, owning approximately $22.26 million worth of shares, making it the firm's 8th largest position.
• In the same quarter, several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Price T Rowe Associates, also increased their holdings in Freeport-McMoRan, indicating strong institutional support with 80.77% of the stock owned by such entities.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly earnings that surpassed expectations, with an EPS of $0.54, along with a revenue of $7.58 billion, up 14.5% from the previous year.

Lodge Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 135.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 587,820 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 337,820 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan comprises approximately 5.3% of Lodge Hill Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Lodge Hill Capital LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $22,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $366,959,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,421,549,000 after buying an additional 5,661,958 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,642,810 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,354.9% during the first quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 2,641,129 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $100,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 26.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,634,713 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $440,490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,195 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.0%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $63.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.55. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.73%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.

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