Hodges Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 499,667 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,828 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 1.7% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $19,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after acquiring an additional 8,292,873 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% in the second quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $412,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,593,050 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,844,504 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $150,781,000 after buying an additional 2,856,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $181,490,000 after buying an additional 2,813,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:FCX opened at $61.03 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 513,986 shares of company stock valued at $32,124,432 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. CICC Research lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. HSBC increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.26.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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.