Hodges Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 26.7%, holding 445,915 shares after selling 162,157 shares in the first quarter.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported earnings of $0.54 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.45, with a total revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 26.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 445,915 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 162,157 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for 1.7% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $16,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth approximately $366,959,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,046,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054,537 shares during the period. Crake Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2,140.8% during the 1st quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 5,929,623 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $224,496,000 after acquiring an additional 5,665,000 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,421,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661,958 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $830,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,642,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.72. The stock had a trading volume of 16,042,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,737,650. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.66 and its 200-day moving average is $40.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $64.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.59. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.