Northcape Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,968 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 4,814 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan comprises approximately 1.3% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,741,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,161,316. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.63 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20, a P/E/G ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 2.04.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.