Westpac Banking Corp Takes $445,000 Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,073 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $64.55 and its 200 day moving average is $63.42. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $77.33. The firm has a market cap of $110.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The business 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 firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.