Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316,035 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 8,124 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $13,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 10,606 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,840 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 965 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 16,844 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% in the third quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 45,869 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $49.91 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $52.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.21 and a 200-day moving average of $40.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.04, a PEG ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,438,509.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,707,249 shares in the company, valued at $187,438,509.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

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.