Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Cuts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC reduced its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.8%, owning 3,605,634 shares after selling 528,622 shares in the first quarter.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported a 14.5% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.54, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.45.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,605,634 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 528,622 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan comprises 2.8% of Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned 0.25% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $136,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted 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 valued at $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during 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 acquiring 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 valued at $100,001,000 after buying an additional 2,459,598 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,734,101,000 after buying an additional 1,822,987 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $41.46. 10,676,281 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,578,604. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.09. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61. The company has a market cap of $59.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.