Analyzing Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) and NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB)

NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) and Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares NioCorp Developments and Southern Copper’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NioCorp Developments	N/A	N/A	-103.75%
Southern Copper	26.15%	34.98%	16.12%

Risk and Volatility

NioCorp Developments has a beta of -0.34, meaning that its share price is 134% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Copper has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for NioCorp Developments and Southern Copper, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NioCorp Developments	0	0	1	0	3.00
Southern Copper	5	1	2	0	1.63

NioCorp Developments currently has a consensus target price of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 358.22%. Southern Copper has a consensus target price of $89.57, suggesting a potential downside of 7.12%. Given NioCorp Developments’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NioCorp Developments is more favorable than Southern Copper.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NioCorp Developments and Southern Copper”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NioCorp Developments	N/A	N/A	-$40.08 million	($0.37)	-5.01
Southern Copper	$10.52 billion	7.16	$2.43 billion	$3.01	32.04

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

4.0% of NioCorp Developments shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of Southern Copper shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.7% of NioCorp Developments shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Southern Copper shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Southern Copper beats NioCorp Developments on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NioCorp Developments

NioCorp Developments Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of mineral deposits in North America. It owns and develops the Elk Creek niobium/scandium/titanium project that owns one 226.43-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights, and an additional 40 acres of mineral rights, as well as an optioned land package that covers an area of 1,396 acres located in Johnson County, southeast Nebraska. The company was formerly known as Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. and changed its name to NioCorp Developments Ltd. in March 2013. NioCorp Developments Ltd. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead. It operates the Toquepala and Cuajone open-pit mines, and a smelter and refinery in Peru; and La Caridad, an open-pit copper mine, as well as a copper ore concentrator, a SX-EW plant, a smelter, refinery, and a rod plant in Mexico. The company also operates Buenavista, an open-pit copper mine, as well as two copper concentrators and two operating SX-EW plants in Mexico. In addition, it operates underground mines that produce zinc, lead, copper, silver, and gold; a coal mine; and a zinc refinery. The company has interests in 156,818 hectares and 502,688 hectares of concessions in Peru and Mexico; and 168,200 hectares and 28,453 hectares of exploration concessions in Argentina and Chile. Southern Copper Corporation was incorporated in 1952 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. Southern Copper Corporation is a subsidiary of Americas Mining Corporation.