Head-To-Head Contrast: Largo (NYSE:LGO) vs. Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO)

Largo (NYSE:LGO) and Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Largo	-35.10%	-22.61%	-14.29%
Ero Copper	29.79%	30.32%	15.17%

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Largo	0	0	2	0	3.00
Ero Copper	1	8	5	2	2.50

Largo presently has a consensus target price of $2.10, suggesting a potential upside of 414.83%. Ero Copper has a consensus target price of $32.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.93%. Given Largo’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Largo is more favorable than Ero Copper.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.1% of Largo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.3% of Ero Copper shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Largo shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Largo has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ero Copper has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Largo and Ero Copper”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Largo	$127.06 million	0.37	-$30.34 million	($1.07)	-0.38
Ero Copper	$785.80 million	3.98	$263.72 million	$2.98	10.05

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

Summary

Ero Copper beats Largo on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Largo

Largo Inc. engages in the development and sale of vanadium-based energy storage systems in Canada. The company operates through, Sales & Trading, Mine Properties, Corporate, Exploration and Evaluation Properties, and Largo Clean Energy and Largo Physical Vanadium Segments. Its products include VPURE+ vanadium flakes that are used in the production of master alloys and aerospace applications; VPURE vanadium flakes ferrovanadium and vanadium carbon nitride for the steel industry; and VPURE+ vanadium powder for catalyst applications. The company offers renewable energy storage solutions through Largo Clean Energy. Its products are sourced from vanadium deposits at the Maracás Menchen Mine in Brazil. The company was formerly known as Largo Resources Ltd. and changed its name to Largo Inc. in November 2021. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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.