Materion (NYSE:MTRN) & Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) Financial Contrast

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.6% of Materion shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.3% of Ero Copper shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Materion shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Materion and Ero Copper”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Materion	$1.79 billion	2.95	$74.82 million	$4.29	59.05
Ero Copper	$785.80 million	4.95	$263.72 million	$2.98	12.52

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Materion and Ero Copper, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Materion	0	1	3	1	3.00
Ero Copper	0	11	5	2	2.50

Materion currently has a consensus target price of $310.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.36%. Ero Copper has a consensus target price of $32.33, suggesting a potential downside of 13.31%. Given Materion’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Materion is more favorable than Ero Copper.

Volatility & Risk

Materion has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ero Copper has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Materion	4.29%	13.38%	6.98%
Ero Copper	29.79%	30.32%	15.17%

Summary

Ero Copper beats Materion on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Materion

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other. The company provides advanced engineered solutions comprising beryllium and non-beryllium containing alloy systems and custom engineered parts in strip, bulk, rod, plate, bar, tube, and other customized shapes; engineering and product development services; alloyed metals, beryllium products, and beryllium hydroxide; precision strip, rod, and wire products, as well as engineered strip metal products; and ToughMet alloys and SupremEX aluminum silicon carbide metal matrix composite formulation products. It operates the bertrandite ore mine and refinery located in Utah that provides feedstock hydroxide for its beryllium businesses and external sale. In addition, it produces advanced chemicals, microelectronics packaging, precious metal, non-precious metal, and specialty metal products, including vapor deposition targets, frame lid assemblies, clad and precious metal pre-forms, high temperature braze materials, and ultra-pure wire. Further, the company designs and produces precision thin film coatings, optical filters, and assemblies. The company sells its products directly from its facilities, as well as through company-owned service centers, outside distributors, agents, direct sales offices, and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Brush Engineered Materials Inc. and changed its name to Materion Corporation in March 2011. Materion Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.

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.