Wesbanco Bank Inc. Grows Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 406.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 177,936 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 142,828 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $9,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $560,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 14,992 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total value of $15,576,346.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,509,119 shares in the company, valued at $220,372,673.20. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the company’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 value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,529,149.19. The trade was a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 over the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.7%

FCX stock opened at $61.65 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $70.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.79.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.14.

More Freeport-McMoRan News

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research lifted earnings estimates for multiple future periods, signaling a stronger profit outlook for Freeport-McMoRan.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that the Grasberg mine may return to full production in 2028 support the longer-term copper production story for FCX.
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock’s recent six-month gain reflects stronger copper prices and earnings, but this move may already reflect much of the optimism. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Higher costs and softer production volumes could pressure near-term results and limit upside in FCX shares. Article Title

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.