Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,806 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,362 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.79.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $44.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.40. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.09. The company has a market capitalization of $63.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.