Hilltop Holdings Inc. Takes $641,000 Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,844 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $641,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 261.3% during the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,468,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,827,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.04 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.