American National Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,780 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on FCX. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. CICC Research raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $61.32 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.75. The firm has a market cap of $88.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.31 and a 200 day moving average of $51.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 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 Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. The trade was a 25.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.