Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7%, selling 7,050 shares and now owning approximately 1,014,566 shares valued at $38,411,000.
• Other institutional investors made significant investments in Freeport-McMoRan, with Financial Sense Advisors Inc. increasing their holdings by 527.9% in the first quarter.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported earnings of $0.54 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $7.58 billion, up 14.5% year-over-year.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,014,566 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 7,050 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 0.07% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $38,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 238.5% during the 1st quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 64,519 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,443,000 after buying an additional 45,458 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 39,571 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 6,188 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 421,469 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $15,957,000 after buying an additional 8,989 shares during the last quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 527.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. now owns 76,127 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 64,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Hoagland & Co. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Hoagland & Co. now owns 109,565 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,148,000 after purchasing an additional 23,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Canada raised Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.9%

FCX opened at $43.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $62.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 0.82 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.08 and a 200-day moving average of $39.49. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 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.

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