Carnegie Investment Counsel Acquires 2,404 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,280 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 2,404 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the 4th 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. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 16,549 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 30,736 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of FCX opened at $40.27 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.25 and a 200 day moving average of $44.34. The firm has a market cap of $57.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.42.

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.