Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Position Lifted by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its ownership of Freeport-McMoRan shares by 16.5%, acquiring 403,125 shares in the first quarter, bringing their total to approximately 2.84 million shares.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly earnings of $0.54 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.45, with a revenue of $7.58 billion, marking a 14.5% increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share to be paid on August 1st, representing a 1.37% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,844,178 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 403,125 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for 1.5% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $107,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $20,565,000 after purchasing an additional 115,552 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 504,987 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $19,230,000 after purchasing an additional 84,207 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 47,078 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 5,674 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $1,571,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.9%

FCX stock traded up $1.13 on Thursday, hitting $40.27. 26,253,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,345,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.64. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $42.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.