D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. Cuts Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,669 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 19,715 shares during the quarter. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $38.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $55.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.98. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

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.