Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Stake Raised by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 87.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,115,008 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 1,921,792 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.29% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $152,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% in the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total transaction of $15,576,346.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,509,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,372,673.20. This trade represents a 6.60% 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 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $60.42 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $86.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.53. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.59.

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.