LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Has $848,000 Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC significantly increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 165.3%, acquiring 13,971 additional shares, bringing its total to 22,423 shares valued at approximately $848,000.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 1.5% and a payout ratio of 22.73%.
• The company reported a 14.5% year-over-year increase in revenue, with $7.58 billion during the last quarter and an earnings per share of $0.54, exceeding analyst expectations.

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 165.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,423 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 13,971 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the 4th 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 grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $20,565,000 after purchasing an additional 115,552 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,427,097 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $54,344,000 after acquiring an additional 126,129 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,175,580 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $387,486,000 after buying an additional 869,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 153.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,477,217 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $94,332,000 after buying an additional 1,501,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's 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. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.27. 7,256,577 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,004,505. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

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.