TCTC Holdings LLC Grows Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 754,316 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,584 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan makes up approximately 0.9% of TCTC Holdings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. TCTC Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $29,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 126,983,947 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,504,754,000 after buying an additional 1,941,662 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 62,358,715 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,703,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926,493 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,787,174 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,678,474,000 after acquiring an additional 320,514 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $849,945,000 after acquiring an additional 435,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $761,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 513,986 shares of company stock worth $32,124,432 in the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $62.82 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.84. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $69.44. The company has a market capitalization of $90.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

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

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target on FCX to $75 (from $56) and kept an “outperform” rating — a sizeable lift to upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded FCX from “hold” to “buy,” reinforcing buy-side momentum and contributing to short‑term demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Other broker actions (Stifel raised its target to $76; UBS, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have recently lifted targets) add to the analyst-driven narrative supporting higher valuations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other research outlets highlight rising earnings-estimate revisions and momentum characteristics for FCX, which can justify multiple expansion if commodity prices and volumes cooperate. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Increased media and analyst attention (multiple Zacks pieces, MSN/Yahoo coverage) is amplifying flows into FCX but is informational rather than a direct operational catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Grasberg production setbacks materially reduced Q4 copper/gold volumes, a real operational headwind that can limit near-term revenue despite stronger prices. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales: Chairman Richard Adkerson disclosed multi-hundred-thousand‑share disposals (Feb. 10–11 filings) totaling tens of millions of dollars — these trades can sap sentiment even if explained by diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Douglas Currault II sold 75,000 shares (~$4.8M); insider selling at the executive level is a nearer-term negative for perception of internal conviction. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.26.

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.