Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 92.4%, holding 147,292 shares worth approximately $5.6 million after acquiring an additional 70,754 shares in Q1.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported $0.54 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.45, with revenue reaching $7.58 billion.
• The company's dividend was recently announced at $0.15 per share, reflecting a 1.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 92.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 147,292 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,754 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $5,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,734,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,987 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,162,058 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $498,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,968,781 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $453,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.6%

FCX stock traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.11. 4,420,053 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,443,449. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 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 posted 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on FCX. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Two equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

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.