Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 41.4% during the 1st quarter, selling 6,583 shares for a total holding of 9,329 shares valued at approximately $353,000.
• Other institutional investors showed increased interest, with Price T Rowe Associates Inc. raising its stake by 21.9%, while Phoenix Financial Ltd. saw a dramatic increase of 1,354.9% in its holdings during the same period.
• Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $0.54 EPS on revenue of $7.58 billion, which represents a 14.5% year-over-year revenue increase.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 41.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,329 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 6,583 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,214,203,000 after buying an additional 5,735,171 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $830,726,000 after buying an additional 2,642,810 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,354.9% during the first quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 2,641,129 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $100,001,000 after buying an additional 2,459,598 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,469,258 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $208,269,000 after buying an additional 1,539,124 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 153.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,477,217 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $94,332,000 after buying an additional 1,501,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.9%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $40.27 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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