Royal Fund Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Royal Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 94.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,600 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 96,991 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $560,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,443 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 50,114 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 14,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $63.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $72.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s 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.