Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Competitors

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

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SCCO or FCX?

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

Is SCCO or FCX a better dividend stock?

Southern Copper pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Freeport-McMoRan pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Southern Copper pays out 72.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Freeport-McMoRan pays out 21.9% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SCCO or FCX?

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 55.90% of users gave Southern Copper an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southern Copper	Outperform Votes 393 55.90%	Underperform Votes 310 44.10%
Freeport-McMoRan	Outperform Votes 1116 66.27%	Underperform Votes 568 33.73%

Which has more volatility & risk, SCCO or FCX?

Southern Copper has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.91, indicating that its share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, SCCO or FCX?

Southern Copper has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Southern Copper	$9.90B	8.17	$2.43B	$3.88	26.51
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.64B	2.45	$1.85B	$1.37	31.90

Does the media prefer SCCO or FCX?

In the previous week, Freeport-McMoRan had 16 more articles in the media than Southern Copper. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Freeport-McMoRan and 7 mentions for Southern Copper. Freeport-McMoRan's average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat Southern Copper's score of 1.36 indicating that Freeport-McMoRan is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern Copper	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Freeport-McMoRan	21 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SCCO or FCX 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
Southern Copper	27.67%	37.11%	17.38%
Freeport-McMoRan	7.81%	7.40%	3.86%

Do analysts recommend SCCO or FCX?

Southern Copper currently has a consensus price target of $90.63, indicating a potential downside of 11.99%. Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus price target of $54.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.57%. Given Freeport-McMoRan's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than Southern Copper.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Copper	6 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.56
Freeport-McMoRan	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Summary

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