SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC – Get Free Report) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for SunCoke Energy and Hecla Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| SunCoke Energy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Hecla Mining | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2.11 |
SunCoke Energy presently has a consensus target price of $9.00, suggesting a potential downside of 11.72%. Hecla Mining has a consensus target price of $23.82, suggesting a potential upside of 16.36%. Given Hecla Mining’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hecla Mining is more favorable than SunCoke Energy.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| SunCoke Energy | -2.88% | 6.37% | 2.28% |
| Hecla Mining | 20.84% | 18.91% | 14.58% |
Dividends
SunCoke Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Hecla Mining pays an annual dividend of $0.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. SunCoke Energy pays out -75.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hecla Mining pays out 2.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. SunCoke Energy has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. SunCoke Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Risk & Volatility
SunCoke Energy has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hecla Mining has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
90.4% of SunCoke Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of Hecla Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of SunCoke Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Hecla Mining 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.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares SunCoke Energy and Hecla Mining”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| SunCoke Energy | $1.90 billion | 0.46 | -$44.20 million | ($0.64) | -15.93 |
| Hecla Mining | $1.42 billion | 9.66 | $321.71 million | $0.49 | 41.78 |
Hecla Mining has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SunCoke Energy. SunCoke Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hecla Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Hecla Mining beats SunCoke Energy on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About SunCoke Energy
SunCoke Energy, Inc. operates as an independent producer of coke in the Americas and Brazil. The company operates through three segments: Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, and Logistics. It offers metallurgical and thermal coal. The company also provides handling and/or mixing services to steel, coke, electric utility, coal producing, and other manufacturing based customers. In addition, it owns and operates cokemaking facilities in the United States and Brazil. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.
About Hecla Mining
Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and doré containing silver and gold. It flagship project is the Greens Creek mine located on Admiralty Island in southeast Alaska. Hecla Mining Company was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
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