Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 14,459 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,080 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 14,459 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 47,144 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $39.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

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.