Contrasting Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) & Newcrest Mining (OTCMKTS:NCMGY)

Newcrest Mining (OTCMKTS:NCMGY) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Dividends

Newcrest Mining pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Freeport-McMoRan pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Newcrest Mining and Freeport-McMoRan, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Newcrest Mining	0	0	0	0	0.00
Freeport-McMoRan	0	3	19	1	2.91

Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus price target of $70.27, indicating a potential upside of 10.42%. Given Freeport-McMoRan’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than Newcrest Mining.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Newcrest Mining and Freeport-McMoRan”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Newcrest Mining	$4.51 billion	3.09	$778.00 million	N/A	N/A
Freeport-McMoRan	$25.91 billion	3.53	$2.20 billion	$2.03	31.35

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than Newcrest Mining.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Newcrest Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Newcrest Mining and Freeport-McMoRan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Newcrest Mining	N/A	N/A	N/A
Freeport-McMoRan	11.39%	10.63%	5.69%

Volatility and Risk

Newcrest Mining has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats Newcrest Mining on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Newcrest Mining

Newcrest Mining Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, mine development, mine operation, and sale of gold and gold/copper concentrates. The company is involved in the exploration and production of silver deposits. It primarily owns and operates mines and projects located in Cadia, Telfer, and Havieron, Australia; Lihir and Wafi-Golpu, Papua New Guinea; and Brucejack and Red Chris, Canada. Newcrest Mining Limited was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. As of October 18, 2023, Newcrest Mining Limited operates as subsidiary of Newmont Corporation.

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.