Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.5%, selling 155,493 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 410,490 shares valued at approximately $15.5 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan's latest quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting an earnings per share of $0.54 and revenue of $7.58 billion—a 14.5% increase year-over-year.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Freeport-McMoRan, with eight ratings for hold, nine for buy, and two for strong buy, reflecting a consensus of a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $51.00.

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 410,490 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 155,493 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $916,037,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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 valued at $830,726,000 after buying an additional 2,642,810 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,441,112 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $626,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,181 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,175,580 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $387,486,000 after purchasing an additional 869,691 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Eight 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock traded up $0.91 on Thursday, reaching $40.77. 9,477,936 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,110,253. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61. The firm has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.78 and a 200-day moving average of $39.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

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.