Schear Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,817 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 404.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 208,242 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $10,395,000 after purchasing an additional 166,975 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 49,387 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.4% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 422,222 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $21,077,000 after buying an additional 82,917 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 240.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 80,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,994,000 after buying an additional 56,475 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 216,070 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $10,786,000 after buying an additional 15,521 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on FCX. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $42.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.91. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.29 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.35. 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 announced its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 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.