Reviewing 5N Plus (OTCMKTS:FPLSF) & Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

5N Plus (OTCMKTS:FPLSF) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of 5N Plus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of 5N Plus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares 5N Plus and Freeport-McMoRan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
5N Plus	6.94%	18.49%	6.92%
Freeport-McMoRan	7.45%	7.37%	3.87%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for 5N Plus and Freeport-McMoRan, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
5N Plus	0	0	0	0	0.00
Freeport-McMoRan	0	7	8	3	2.78

Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus target price of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.66%. Given Freeport-McMoRan’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than 5N Plus.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares 5N Plus and Freeport-McMoRan”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
5N Plus	$289.28 million	2.69	$14.67 million	$0.24	36.45
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.82 billion	2.50	$1.89 billion	$1.32	33.99

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than 5N Plus. Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than 5N Plus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

5N Plus has a beta of 1.84, meaning that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats 5N Plus on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 5N Plus

5N Plus Inc. produces and sells specialty metals and chemicals in North America, Europe, and Asia. It operates through two segments, Specialty Semiconductors and Performance Materials. The company offers semiconductor compounds, semiconductor wafers, metals, epitaxial semiconductor substrates, and solar cells. It also provides active pharmaceutical ingredients, animal feed additives, specialized chemicals, commercial grade metals, alloys, engineered powders, and recycling services. The company serves renewable energy, security, space, pharmaceutical, medical imaging, manufacturing, electronic, consumer, and industrial application markets. 5N Plus Inc. is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. 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.