Vident Advisory LLC Buys 59,996 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 182.4%, acquiring an additional 59,996 shares to hold a total of 92,896 shares worth approximately $3.5 million.
• Other institutional investors, including Clough Capital Partners and Magnetar Financial, also significantly raised their holdings in Freeport-McMoRan during the same quarter, with a combined increase from several firms totaling substantial share purchases.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported earnings that surpassed analyst expectations, showing a revenue growth of 14.5% year-over-year, with an EPS of $0.54, beating consensus estimates by $0.09.

Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 182.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,896 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 59,996 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCX. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE:FCX traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $46.17. The company had a trading volume of 12,042,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,492,161. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $66.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.59. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $43.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.72. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

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.