Mechanics Financial Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,438,509.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,438,509.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of FCX stock traded down $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $48.45. 12,253,587 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,181,973. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.68. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.17, a P/E/G ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 2.02.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.