Guardian Partners Inc. Trims Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Guardian Partners Inc. lessened its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 65.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,374 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 45,000 shares during the quarter. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,333 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 45,133 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,095 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,404 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Argus raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $59.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.34. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

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.