Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Sells 44,932 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC cut its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 46.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,590 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 44,932 shares during the quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its holdings 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. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,539 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Essex Bank raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,000. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $77.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.32, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.71 and its 200-day moving average is $63.53. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.15 and a 1 year high of $78.88.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.78%.

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.