KBC Group NV Grows Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

KBC Group NV increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 124.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 497,263 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 275,425 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $29,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, CICC Research decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.95.

Key Headlines Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76 to $80 and kept a buy rating, signaling confidence in further upside for FCX. Article Link
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have increased their earnings forecast for FCX’s upcoming quarter to about $0.60 per share, suggesting stronger profitability even though revenue is expected to decline year over year due to cost discipline and operational efficiency. Article Link
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple earnings-preview and sector pieces highlighted FCX as a miner with potential to beat Q2 estimates, helped by stronger commodity prices. Article Link
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage around the global AI data center buildout continues to support the long-term copper demand story, with FCX positioned as a key beneficiary if AI infrastructure spending keeps accelerating. Article Link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also discussed FCX’s “copper turning point” and its attention in the copper market, but these were more thematic than immediately actionable for the stock. Article Link

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $62.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.15. The firm has a market cap of $89.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

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.