Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 40,492 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.7%, purchasing an additional 40,492 shares to own a total of 1,548,190 shares, valued at approximately $58,468,000.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54 for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.09, with revenue of $7.58 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,548,190 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 40,492 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $58,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $42,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of FCX opened at $46.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $66.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.87. 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 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during 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%.Freeport-McMoRan'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 earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast 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 given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.