CWA Asset Management Group LLC Cuts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,919 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, First Command Bank purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total transaction of $504,139.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,395,815.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $36.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $24.80 and a one year high of $51.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The natural resource company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 14.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.21.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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Freeport-McMoRan, Inc engages in the mining of copper, gold, and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining, Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining, and Corporate and Other. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Baghdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico.