Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Competitors

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) are related companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate CENX or FCX?

Century Aluminum presently has a consensus target price of $28.50, suggesting a potential downside of 9.81%. Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus target price of $46.37, suggesting a potential upside of 8.22%. Given Freeport-McMoRan's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than Century Aluminum.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Century Aluminum	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Freeport-McMoRan	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.79

Which has more risk and volatility, CENX or FCX?

Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.52, suggesting that its share price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CENX or FCX?

61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer CENX or FCX?

In the previous week, Freeport-McMoRan had 42 more articles in the media than Century Aluminum. MarketBeat recorded 54 mentions for Freeport-McMoRan and 12 mentions for Century Aluminum. Century Aluminum's average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat Freeport-McMoRan's score of 0.62 indicating that Century Aluminum is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Century Aluminum	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Freeport-McMoRan	18 Very Positive mention(s)	12 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CENX or FCX more profitable?

Freeport-McMoRan has a net margin of 7.45% compared to Century Aluminum's net margin of 4.94%. Century Aluminum's return on equity of 18.02% beat Freeport-McMoRan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Century Aluminum	4.94%	18.02%	6.21%
Freeport-McMoRan	7.45%	7.37%	3.87%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, CENX or FCX?

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than Century Aluminum. Century Aluminum 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
Century Aluminum	$2.22B	1.33	$336.80M	$1.16	27.24
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.46B	2.42	$1.89B	$1.32	32.46

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Century Aluminum on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.