Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 3,245 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Verus Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 17.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,414 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 3,245 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Callan Family Office LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 229.9% in the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 26,983 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,803 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 11.8% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 215,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $9,323,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.1% in the second quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 331,549 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $14,373,000 after buying an additional 24,803 shares in the last quarter. Mercuria Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at about $9,970,000. Finally, Financial Sense Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 527.9% during the first quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. now owns 76,127 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,882,000 after buying an additional 64,003 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $41.07 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $49.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.72. The stock has a market cap of $58.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.01.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.