Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $914,000 Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,015 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,123,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,926 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 50,658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,064,470 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $78,615,000 after purchasing an additional 155,754 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,786 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 4.0 %

FCX stock opened at $38.36 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $55.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.98 and a twelve month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

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.