Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 300,642 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 92.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,538 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 300,642 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 54,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.78, for a total value of $2,781,271.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,652,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,472,832.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 54,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.78, for a total value of $2,781,271.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,652,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,472,832.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,127,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,601,608. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $59.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.07.

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.