Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,710 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 8,242 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FCX. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Key Financial Inc grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 828 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 869 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $70.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $101.62 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.93.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.