Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by Townsquare Capital LLC

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 20.4%, acquiring an additional 44,783 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 264,808 shares valued at approximately $10 million.
• A variety of analysts have issued reports on Freeport-McMoRan, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $51.00, highlighting an "outperform" rating from Raymond James Financial and changes in ratings from others.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.54 per share and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, with a notable 1.4% dividend yield.

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 20.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 264,808 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 44,783 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $10,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.46. 10,676,281 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,578,604. The company has a market cap of $59.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.63. The company's 50 day moving average is $42.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on FCX. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.