Bank of America Corp DE Buys 7,044,775 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,044,775 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 2.95% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $2,489,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $72.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

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.