Busey Bank Purchases 115,350 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Busey Bank raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 477.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,505 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,350 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $8,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Essex Bank grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.9% in the first quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 18,674 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FCX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.36.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $60.88 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.15 and a twelve month high of $72.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.