Sunbelt Securities Inc. Purchases 1,333 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,139 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, American National Bank grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total value of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FCX. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $49.46 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.05 billion, a PE ratio of 43.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

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.