Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and Arizona Sonoran Copper (OTC:ASCUF) Critical Survey

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and Arizona Sonoran Copper (OTC:ASCUF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.0% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Freeport-McMoRan and Arizona Sonoran Copper, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freeport-McMoRan	1	6	4	0	2.27
Arizona Sonoran Copper	0	0	4	0	3.00

Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus target price of $42.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.96%. Given Freeport-McMoRan’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than Arizona Sonoran Copper.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Freeport-McMoRan and Arizona Sonoran Copper’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Freeport-McMoRan	$22.71 billion	2.31	$3.47 billion	$1.48	24.76
Arizona Sonoran Copper	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than Arizona Sonoran Copper.

Profitability

This table compares Freeport-McMoRan and Arizona Sonoran Copper’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freeport-McMoRan	9.50%	9.98%	5.04%
Arizona Sonoran Copper	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Arizona Sonoran Copper on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals, as well as oil and gas. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Tyrone and Chino in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. It also operates a portfolio of oil and gas properties primarily located in offshore California and the Gulf of Mexico. The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Arizona Sonoran Copper

Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. engages in the identification, acquisition, exploration, development, and production of base metal properties. The company's principal asset is the 100% interest in the Cactus Project located in, Casa Grande Arizona. The company was formerly known as Elim Mining Incorporated and changed its name to Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. in July 2021. Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Tempe, Arizona.