First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,700 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. HSBC upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $41.34 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $59.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.58. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $49.21.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.13%.

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.