Clarius Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Clarius Group LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,823 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position 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. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank cut their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $40.27 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.27. 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 quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

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.