Empowered Funds LLC Sells 135,329 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Empowered Funds LLC cut its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 24.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 426,281 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 135,329 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $25,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steph & Co. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:FCX opened at $61.58 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $63.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.15 and a 52 week high of $72.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $88.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FCX. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.27.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.