First Financial Bank Trust Division Increases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,041 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 14,167 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $84,085,000 after buying an additional 66,699 shares in the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 16,841.3% in the 3rd quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 70,137 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,501,000 after acquiring an additional 69,723 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 318,822 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $15,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 41.3% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 34,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.92.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:FCX traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,746,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,710,957. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $54.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

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.