Empirical Asset Management LLC Takes $1.76 Million Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 46,313 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retireful LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $278,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 17,954 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 49,280 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 51,375 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 69,472 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $40.27 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.