Argyle Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 27.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,170 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,604 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 17,673 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 65.4% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 87,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 34,750 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 285,491 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $10,809,000 after purchasing an additional 24,532 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,581 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE FCX traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,607,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,479,098. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61. The company has a market capitalization of $65.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $40.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 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 1.31%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

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.