First Financial Bank Trust Division Lowers Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,202 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 3,010 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $20,565,000 after acquiring an additional 115,552 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $256,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 18,252 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 9,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $44.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.12. The stock has a market cap of $64.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.59.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.