New Century Financial Group LLC Purchases 975 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,506 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $345,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 59,234 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,209,000 after acquiring an additional 20,212 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 186.1% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,813 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 21,342 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 89,883 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,352,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 45.9% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 37,060 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 11,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $50.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $72.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.65 and a 200-day moving average of $45.34.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total value of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.