Jackson Square Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyJackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 44,961 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,284,000.
Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $33,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 869 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.
Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $65.10 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $69.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.54. The company has a market capitalization of $93.56 billion, a PE ratio of 43.11, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.48.
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.
Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan
In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918 over the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have issued reports on FCX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Argus upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.75.
Check Out Our Latest Report on FCX
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.
Further Reading
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