Head to Head Comparison: Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) & Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO)

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) and Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Copper	$13.42 billion	11.51	$4.33 billion	$6.84	27.07
Barrick Mining	$16.96 billion	3.67	$4.99 billion	$3.88	9.82

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

Volatility & Risk

Southern Copper has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barrick Mining has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Southern Copper pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Barrick Mining pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Southern Copper pays out 64.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Barrick Mining pays out 18.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Copper	37.16%	53.46%	28.28%
Barrick Mining	31.60%	16.02%	11.22%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.9% of Southern Copper shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of Barrick Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Southern Copper shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Barrick Mining shares are owned by company 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 Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Southern Copper and Barrick Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Copper	7	4	2	0	1.62
Barrick Mining	0	6	15	1	2.77

Southern Copper currently has a consensus target price of $161.28, indicating a potential downside of 12.91%. Barrick Mining has a consensus target price of $52.59, indicating a potential upside of 37.99%. Given Barrick Mining’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Barrick Mining is more favorable than Southern Copper.

Summary

Barrick Mining beats Southern Copper on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Barrick Mining

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer.  Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.
 
In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick. Nevada Gold Mines is the world’s largest gold mining complex.  Barrick owns and operates six Tier One gold mines:  Cortez, Carlin and Turquoise Ridge in Nevada, Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali, Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic.
 
It has gold and copper mines and projects in 13 countries in North and South America, Africa, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia. Barrick’s diversified portfolio spans the world’s most prolific gold districts and is focused on high-margin, long life assets.