New Century Financial Group LLC Has $353,000 Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,506 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. American National Bank raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $50.65 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.34.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. Raymond James increased their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.50 to $62.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.93.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

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

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.