Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,802 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $39.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $51.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.47 and a 200 day moving average of $40.54.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.74.

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.