Mountaineer Partners Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 16.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,049 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,088 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan comprises approximately 6.7% of Mountaineer Partners Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $11,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,760,188 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,049,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,241 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,258,414 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,480,995,000 after buying an additional 899,699 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,787,174 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,678,474,000 after buying an additional 320,514 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $849,945,000 after buying an additional 435,963 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FCX. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Argus raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $57.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.20 billion, a PE ratio of 38.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $69.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.08.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,975,679.35. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.