Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Lowers Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 2.1%, owning 397,979 shares worth approximately $15.07 million after selling 8,555 shares in the first quarter.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently announced a $0.15 quarterly dividend with an annualized yield of 1.34%, which will be paid on August 1st to shareholders of record as of July 15th.
• Analysts are optimistic about Freeport-McMoRan, with several recent upgrades and price target increases, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $51.00.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 397,979 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 8,555 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the fourth 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,122,922,000 after buying an additional 688,240 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,123,445,000 after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $916,037,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,642,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.1%

FCX stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,435,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,771,312. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market capitalization of $61.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.04. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.73%.

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 that occurred on 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 directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Eight 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.