Empirical Asset Management LLC Makes New $1.76 Million Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 46,313 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $40.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.34. The stock has a market cap of $57.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

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.