Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 29,780 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 304,886 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,780 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Iowa State Bank grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 49,059 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,628 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 45,133 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,095 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,571 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $61.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $69.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.96. The stock has a market cap of $88.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.