Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 420,411 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,984 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $18,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.54. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $51.19. The company has a market capitalization of $55.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.58.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 22.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. Johnson Rice reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.47.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.