Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys 70,300 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 487.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,720 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 70,300 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $857,305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,531 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,273,162 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $619,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,123,445,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.86. 9,721,377 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,401,527. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.64. The company's 50-day moving average price is $37.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was 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 now owns 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

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.