Faithward Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,806 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at about $754,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,388,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $84,085,000 after purchasing an additional 66,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 4.1 %

FCX stock opened at $30.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.61. The firm has a market cap of $43.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.25.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.