Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,069 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 6,631 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of FCX opened at $39.68 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $49.12. The firm has a market cap of $56.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.45.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 21.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.50 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. HSBC lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Clarkson Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.73.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.