Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Invests $200,000 in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,700 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 97.1% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 670 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $49.81 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $52.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $71.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 2.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.54.

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.