Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Stake Raised by Gabelli Funds LLC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 3.5% in the first quarter, owning approximately 1.28 million shares valued at $48.3 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations, reporting $0.54 EPS compared to a consensus estimate of $0.45, with revenues also surpassing analysts' predictions at $7.58 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, representing a 1.4% yield, with a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,275,216 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,708 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.09% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $48,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,734,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,987 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,421,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661,958 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,441,112 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $626,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,162,058 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $498,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,285 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business'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 value of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:FCX opened at $43.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $52.61. The stock's 50-day moving average is $43.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.49. The stock has a market cap of $62.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 22.73%.

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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