Ground Swell Capital LLC Buys Shares of 6,593 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired 6,593 shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc., worth approximately $250,000, in the first quarter, signaling growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $51.00 for Freeport-McMoRan, with nine analysts rating it a buy and some even raising their price expectations recently.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54, exceeding expectations and representing a 14.5% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.

Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,593 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 62,015 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,348,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 25,980 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 10,421 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $42.72 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $52.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market cap of $61.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.98 and a 200-day moving average of $39.14.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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