Ero Copper (ERO) Competitors

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) are both 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, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Which has more risk and volatility, ERO or FCX?

Ero Copper has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ERO or FCX?

Ero Copper presently has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential upside of 57.98%. Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus target price of $50.71, indicating a potential upside of 13.14%. Given Ero Copper's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly 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)	7 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Does the media prefer ERO or FCX?

In the previous week, Freeport-McMoRan had 28 more articles in the media than Ero Copper. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for Freeport-McMoRan and 11 mentions for Ero Copper. Freeport-McMoRan's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Ero Copper's score of 0.53 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	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Freeport-McMoRan	29 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ERO or FCX?

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than Ero Copper. Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ero Copper, 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	3.28	-$68.47M	$0.17	87.50
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.46B	2.53	$1.89B	$1.21	37.05

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

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

Is ERO or FCX more profitable?

Freeport-McMoRan has a net margin of 7.11% compared to Ero Copper's net margin of 3.87%. Ero Copper's return on equity of 14.24% beat Freeport-McMoRan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ero Copper	3.87%	14.24%	6.44%
Freeport-McMoRan	7.11%	7.03%	3.68%

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Ero Copper on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.