Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 13.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 730,336 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,581 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $28,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Argus raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, CICC Research boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.26.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total value of $15,576,346.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,509,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $220,372,673.20. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 513,986 shares of company stock worth $32,124,432. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $62.82 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.44.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

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.