Ero Copper (ERO) Competitors

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is ERO or FCX more profitable?

Ero Copper has a net margin of 26.63% compared to Freeport-McMoRan's net margin of 7.45%. Ero Copper's return on equity of 17.96% beat Freeport-McMoRan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ero Copper	26.63%	17.96%	8.06%
Freeport-McMoRan	7.45%	7.37%	3.87%

Which has better earnings and valuation, ERO or FCX?

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than Ero Copper. Ero Copper is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Freeport-McMoRan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ero Copper	$470.26M	2.96	-$68.47M	$1.37	9.80
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.46B	2.26	$1.89B	$1.32	30.33

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ERO or FCX?

71.3% of Ero Copper shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, ERO or FCX?

Ero Copper has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ERO or FCX?

Ero Copper currently has a consensus price target of $23.50, suggesting a potential upside of 74.98%. Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus price target of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.37%. Given Ero Copper's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Ero Copper is more favorable than Freeport-McMoRan.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ero Copper	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Freeport-McMoRan	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Does the media favor ERO or FCX?

In the previous week, Freeport-McMoRan had 20 more articles in the media than Ero Copper. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for Freeport-McMoRan and 17 mentions for Ero Copper. Freeport-McMoRan's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Ero Copper's score of 0.48 indicating that Freeport-McMoRan is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ero Copper	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Freeport-McMoRan	24 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Ero Copper on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.