Element Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 13,470 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,470 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $528,000. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for 0.7% of Element Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,333 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 45,133 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,095 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,404 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FCX. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. 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. Argus upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $56.33 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.75. 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 $80.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.94.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

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.