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 contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FCX or SCCO?

Freeport-McMoRan received 735 more outperform votes than Southern Copper when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.20% of users gave Freeport-McMoRan an outperform vote while only 55.63% of users gave Southern Copper an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Freeport-McMoRan	Outperform Votes 1130 66.20%	Underperform Votes 577 33.80%
Southern Copper	Outperform Votes 395 55.63%	Underperform Votes 315 44.37%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FCX or SCCO?

80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of Southern Copper shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Southern Copper shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is FCX or SCCO more profitable?

Southern Copper has a net margin of 29.53% compared to Freeport-McMoRan's net margin of 7.42%. Southern Copper's return on equity of 40.27% beat Freeport-McMoRan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freeport-McMoRan	7.42%	7.50%	3.92%
Southern Copper	29.53%	40.27%	19.12%

Which has more volatility and risk, FCX or SCCO?

Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.71, suggesting that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Copper has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, 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	$25.46B	2.11	$1.89B	$1.21	30.84
Southern Copper	$11.43B	6.56	$3.38B	$4.32	21.80

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 24.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern Copper pays out 64.8% 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 media favor FCX or SCCO?

In the previous week, Freeport-McMoRan had 28 more articles in the media than Southern Copper. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Freeport-McMoRan and 15 mentions for Southern Copper. Southern Copper's average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat Freeport-McMoRan's score of 1.11 indicating that Southern Copper is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Freeport-McMoRan	32 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Southern Copper	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer FCX or SCCO?

Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus price target of $48.00, suggesting a potential upside of 28.62%. Southern Copper has a consensus price target of $91.50, suggesting a potential downside of 2.85%. Given Freeport-McMoRan's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities 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)	4 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93
Southern Copper	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.83

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Southern Copper on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.