Rathbones Group PLC Purchases 29,637 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.3% during Q1, now holding 1,295,564 shares valued at approximately $49 million according to its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Westpac Banking Corp and AIA Group Ltd, have also raised their holdings in Freeport-McMoRan, contributing to a total of 80.77% of the stock being owned by hedge funds and other institutional entities.
• Freeport-McMoRan's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $0.54 EPS on revenues of $7.58 billion, marking a 14.5% increase compared to the same quarter last year.

Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,295,564 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 29,637 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.09% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $49,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on FCX. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.57 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.72. The company had a trading volume of 13,118,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,151,302. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61. The stock has a market cap of $61.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.63. The business's 50-day moving average is $42.98 and its 200 day moving average is $39.14. 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 (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.