Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 431,574 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 193.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 654,866 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 431,574 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $25,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $59.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.58 and its 200 day moving average is $49.81. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. The trade was a 21.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.59.

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.