Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd Takes Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a significant position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by purchasing 1,094,480 shares worth approximately $41.4 million, making it the firm's largest holding.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.54, surpassing analysts' consensus estimate of $0.45, and a revenue of $7.58 billion, exceeding expectations of $6.85 billion.
• Various institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Price T Rowe Associates Inc., have also significantly increased their stakes in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.

Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,094,480 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $41,437,000. Freeport-McMoRan comprises 20.8% of Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd owned about 0.08% of Freeport-McMoRan as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.5% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 146,029 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $5,529,000 after buying an additional 10,176 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,631,000. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 16,675 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 58.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,588 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 4,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.6%

FCX traded down $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.72. 16,042,709 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,737,650. 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 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.15. The firm has a market cap of $64.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

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.