U S Global Investors Inc. Takes $650,000 Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% during 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 in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 5.5%

NYSE FCX opened at $40.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $50.28. The company has a market capitalization of $58.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.58.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend 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 research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.56.

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.