Advocate Group LLC Raises Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Advocate Group LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 18.5% during Q2, now owning 82,412 shares valued at approximately $3.57 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.5%.
• The company's most recent earnings report exceeded analyst expectations, reporting $0.54 EPS and revenue of $7.58 billion, up 14.5% year-over-year.

Advocate Group LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,412 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 12,844 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 5.5%

NYSE:FCX opened at $40.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.58. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $50.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued 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 yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.56.

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.

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