Empowered Funds LLC Buys 166,975 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 404.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,242 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 166,975 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $10,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,427,583,000 after buying an additional 13,143,562 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $417,752,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $712,600,000 after acquiring an additional 4,396,309 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $162,464,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,882,874 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,734,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.3 %

FCX traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.70. The stock had a trading volume of 12,902,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,931,597. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.29 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $46.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.00.

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.