Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,494 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,193 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $37.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $53.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $36.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.79.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.09.

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.

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