Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) versus Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) Critical Review

Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) and Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.1% of Endeavour Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.3% of Ero Copper shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Endeavour Silver shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Endeavour Silver and Ero Copper, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Endeavour Silver	0	3	5	1	2.78
Ero Copper	0	11	5	2	2.50

Endeavour Silver currently has a consensus target price of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 68.53%. Ero Copper has a consensus target price of $32.33, suggesting a potential downside of 14.72%. Given Endeavour Silver’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Endeavour Silver is more favorable than Ero Copper.

Volatility and Risk

Endeavour Silver has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ero Copper has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Endeavour Silver	9.30%	17.46%	8.93%
Ero Copper	29.79%	30.32%	15.17%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Endeavour Silver and Ero Copper”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Endeavour Silver	$737.20 million	3.46	-$119.10 million	$0.21	40.97
Ero Copper	$785.80 million	5.04	$263.72 million	$2.98	12.72

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

Summary

Ero Copper beats Endeavour Silver on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Endeavour Silver

Endeavour Silver Corp., a silver mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation of mineral properties in Chile and the United States. It explores for gold and silver deposits, and precious metals. The company was formerly known as Endeavour Gold Corp. and changed its name to Endeavour Silver Corp. in September 2004. Endeavour Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Vancouver, 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.