Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Holdings Lowered by Sona Asset Management US LLC

Sona Asset Management US LLC reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 75.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 75,000 shares during the quarter. Sona Asset Management US LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Essex Bank boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 18,674 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $62.54 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $89.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.38. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $72.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.18.

Key Headlines Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

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

• Positive Sentiment: FCX reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.74 and revenue of $7.03 billion, both ahead of Wall Street estimates, helped by higher realized copper and gold prices. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said the Grasberg ramp remains on schedule, U.S. operations are improving, and the brownfield copper pipeline is expanding, which supports longer-term production growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on FCX to $73 from $70, signaling continued analyst confidence in the stock’s upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent writeups highlighted strong income growth, free cash flow, and the benefit of firmer copper prices, reinforcing the investment case for FCX. 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.