Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Competitors

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, community ranking, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is FCX or SCCO more profitable?

Southern Copper has a net margin of 27.67% compared to Freeport-McMoRan's net margin of 7.81%. Southern Copper's return on equity of 37.11% beat Freeport-McMoRan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freeport-McMoRan	7.81%	7.40%	3.86%
Southern Copper	27.67%	37.11%	17.38%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, FCX or SCCO?

Southern Copper has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Freeport-McMoRan. Southern 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
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.64B	2.18	$1.85B	$1.37	28.36
Southern Copper	$10.94B	6.68	$2.43B	$3.88	23.97

Do analysts prefer FCX or SCCO?

Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus price target of $53.92, indicating a potential upside of 38.75%. Southern Copper has a consensus price target of $94.81, indicating a potential upside of 1.94%. Given Freeport-McMoRan's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than Southern Copper.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freeport-McMoRan	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69
Southern Copper	4 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.78

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FCX or SCCO?

Freeport-McMoRan received 723 more outperform votes than Southern Copper when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.27% of users gave Freeport-McMoRan an outperform vote while only 55.74% of users gave Southern Copper an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Freeport-McMoRan	Outperform Votes 1116 66.27%	Underperform Votes 568 33.73%
Southern Copper	Outperform Votes 393 55.74%	Underperform Votes 312 44.26%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in FCX or SCCO?

80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of Southern Copper shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Southern Copper shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to FCX or SCCO?

In the previous week, Freeport-McMoRan had 10 more articles in the media than Southern Copper. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Freeport-McMoRan and 5 mentions for Southern Copper. Freeport-McMoRan's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Southern Copper's score of 0.62 indicating that Freeport-McMoRan is being referred to more favorably in the media.

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

Is FCX or SCCO a better dividend stock?

Freeport-McMoRan pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Southern Copper pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Freeport-McMoRan pays out 21.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern Copper pays out 72.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Which has more risk and volatility, FCX or SCCO?

Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.86, meaning that its stock price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Copper has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Southern Copper on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.