Empower Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 158.8%, now owning approximately 1,422,643 shares valued at $53.86 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about Freeport-McMoRan, with a consensus target price of $51.00 and several firms issuing "buy" or "strong-buy" ratings.
• The company reported a 14.5% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, exceeding analyst expectations with earnings of $0.54 per share.

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 158.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,422,643 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 873,021 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.10% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $53,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the 4th 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $830,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,642,810 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,441,112 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $626,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,175,580 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $387,486,000 after buying an additional 869,691 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.91 on Thursday, hitting $40.77. 9,659,131 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,292,644. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.05. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.63.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

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.