Scotia Capital Inc. Has $10.39 Million Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 28.4%, ending the first quarter with a value of $10.39 million as it sold over 109,000 shares.
• Brokerage analysts have raised their price targets for Freeport-McMoRan, with Citigroup increasing it from $44 to $48, and JPMorgan from $42 to $56, indicating a positive outlook on the stock.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported earnings of $0.54 per share, surpassing estimates, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing a dividend yield of 1.5%.

Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 274,409 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 109,077 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $10,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FCX. Citigroup upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $40.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.63. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $42.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.04. 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 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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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