Contrasting Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) and Lifezone Metals (NYSE:LZM)

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) and Lifezone Metals (NYSE:LZM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Southern Copper and Lifezone Metals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Copper	6	1	2	0	1.56
Lifezone Metals	0	0	4	0	3.00

Southern Copper currently has a consensus target price of $90.63, indicating a potential downside of 18.96%. Lifezone Metals has a consensus target price of $14.17, indicating a potential upside of 120.32%. Given Lifezone Metals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lifezone Metals is more favorable than Southern Copper.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Copper	$10.94 billion	7.98	$2.43 billion	$3.88	28.82
Lifezone Metals	$1.02 million	225.77	-$363.88 million	N/A	N/A

Southern Copper has higher revenue and earnings than Lifezone Metals.

Volatility & Risk

Southern Copper has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lifezone Metals has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Profitability

This table compares Southern Copper and Lifezone Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Copper	27.67%	38.41%	17.71%
Lifezone Metals	-24,521.17%	-294.91%	-237.25%

Summary

Southern Copper beats Lifezone Metals on 8 of the 12 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 Lifezone Metals

Lifezone Metals Limited engages in the extraction and refining of metals. It supplies lower-carbon and sulfur dioxide emission metals to the battery storage, EV, and hydrogen markets. The company’s products include nickel, copper, and cobalt. Its flagship project is the Kabanga nickel project in North-West Tanzania. The company is based in Ramsey, Isle of Man.