Head-To-Head Contrast: Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and Western Copper & Gold (NYSE:WRN)

Western Copper & Gold (NYSE:WRN) and Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Western Copper & Gold and Lithium Americas (Argentina), as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Copper & Gold	0	0	1	1	3.50
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	3	1	2.63

Western Copper & Gold presently has a consensus price target of $4.25, indicating a potential upside of 282.88%. Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a consensus price target of $7.05, indicating a potential upside of 108.58%. Given Western Copper & Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Western Copper & Gold is more favorable than Lithium Americas (Argentina).

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Western Copper & Gold and Lithium Americas (Argentina)”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Copper & Gold	N/A	N/A	-$2.47 million	($0.02)	-55.50
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.79	0.43

Western Copper & Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lithium Americas (Argentina), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

22.0% of Western Copper & Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Western Copper & Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Western Copper & Gold and Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Copper & Gold	N/A	-3.53%	-3.45%
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-1.37%	-1.08%

Volatility & Risk

Western Copper & Gold has a beta of 1.85, meaning that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Western Copper & Gold on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western Copper & Gold

Western Copper and Gold Corporation, an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Canada. The company explores for gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum deposits. Its principal property is the Casino mineral property that comprise 1,136 full and partial quartz claims, and 55 placer claims located in Yukon, Canada. The company was formerly known as Western Copper Corporation and changed its name to Western Copper and Gold Corporation in October 2011. Western Copper and Gold Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.