TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada increased its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 22.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 887,663 shares valued at approximately $53.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.77% of FCX.
• Freeport-McMoRan exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.74 per share on $7.03 billion in revenue, although revenue declined 7.3% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally bullish view, with FCX receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and several firms raising price targets. Company insiders, however, sold $8.4 million worth of shares over the past three months.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 22.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 887,663 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 164,297 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $53,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $62,478,000 after buying an additional 272,726 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $16,122,000 after purchasing an additional 213,477 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $868,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $72.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.15 and a 1 year high of $80.24. The company has a market cap of $104.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $66.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup restated a "positive" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.27.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

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