Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,686,483 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 208,888 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.60% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $330,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,692,191,000 after purchasing an additional 642,776 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,214,203,000 after acquiring an additional 5,735,171 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,122,922,000 after acquiring an additional 688,240 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,123,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,926 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $916,037,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $38.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.07. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.36.

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.