Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) & McEwen (NYSE:MUX) Head-To-Head Analysis

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) and McEwen (NYSE:MUX) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Ero Copper and McEwen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ero Copper	29.79%	30.32%	15.17%
McEwen	32.46%	13.48%	9.13%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.3% of Ero Copper shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.0% of McEwen shares are held by institutional investors. 14.8% of McEwen shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Ero Copper and McEwen, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ero Copper	1	8	5	2	2.50
McEwen	0	2	2	0	2.50

Ero Copper presently has a consensus price target of $32.33, indicating a potential upside of 7.93%. McEwen has a consensus price target of $29.50, indicating a potential upside of 101.88%. Given McEwen’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe McEwen is more favorable than Ero Copper.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ero Copper and McEwen”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ero Copper	$1.04 billion	2.99	$263.72 million	$2.98	10.05
McEwen	$197.55 million	4.54	$34.43 million	$1.26	11.60

Ero Copper has higher revenue and earnings than McEwen. Ero Copper is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than McEwen, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Ero Copper has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, McEwen has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ero Copper beats McEwen on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ero Copper

Ero Copper Corp. engages in the exploration, development, and production of mining projects in Brazil. The company is involved in the production and sale of copper concentrate from the Caraíba operations located in the Curaçá Valley, northeastern Bahia state, Brazil, as well as gold and silver by-products. It also holds 100% interests in the Tucumã project, a copper development project located within southeastern Pará state; and the Xavantina Operations located in Mato Grosso state. Ero Copper Corp. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About McEwen

McEwen Mining Inc. engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold and silver. It also explores for copper deposits. The company owns 100% interests in the El Gallo and Fenix projects located in Mexico; and the Black Fox Mine and Stock Mill, Grey Fox, and Froome and Tamarack properties in Canada. It also owns interests in the Fuller, Davidson-Tisdale, Buffalo Ankerite, and Paymaster exploration properties located in Canada; and a 49% interest in the San José mine located in Argentina. In addition, the company owns 100% interests in the Gold Bar and Tonkin properties located in Eureka County, Nevada; and interests in the Los Azules copper project located in the cordilleran region in the province of San Juan, Argentina. The company was formerly known as US Gold Corporation and changed its name to McEwen Mining Inc. in January 2012. McEwen Mining Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.