California State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,175,917 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 55,354 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $127,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.51. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

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.