Analyzing Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM) and Aris Mining (NYSE:ARMN)

Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM) and Aris Mining (NYSE:ARMN) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fortuna Silver Mines and Aris Mining”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fortuna Silver Mines	$1.03 billion	1.37	-$50.84 million	$0.08	57.00
Aris Mining	$484.51 million	1.33	$11.42 million	($0.02)	-189.00

Aris Mining has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Fortuna Silver Mines. Aris Mining is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fortuna Silver Mines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Fortuna Silver Mines has a beta of 1.55, meaning that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aris Mining has a beta of 0.15, meaning that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Fortuna Silver Mines and Aris Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fortuna Silver Mines	2.45%	10.08%	6.87%
Aris Mining	-0.66%	4.97%	2.70%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Fortuna Silver Mines and Aris Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fortuna Silver Mines	0	1	0	0	2.00
Aris Mining	0	0	0	0	0.00

Fortuna Silver Mines presently has a consensus target price of $6.50, suggesting a potential upside of 42.54%. Given Fortuna Silver Mines’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Fortuna Silver Mines is more favorable than Aris Mining.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.8% of Fortuna Silver Mines shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.8% of Aris Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Fortuna Silver Mines shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Fortuna Silver Mines beats Aris Mining on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fortuna Silver Mines

Fortuna Mining Corp. engages in the precious and base metal mining in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Peru, and Côte d’Ivoire. It operates through Mansfield, Sanu, Sango, Cuzcatlan, Bateas, and Corporate segments. The company primarily explores for silver, lead, zinc, and gold. Its flagship project is the Séguéla gold mine, which consists of approximately 62,000 hectares and is located in the Worodougou Region of the Woroba District, Côte d’Ivoire. The company was formerly known as Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. and changed its name to Fortuna Mining Corp. in June 2024. Fortuna Mining Corp. was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

About Aris Mining

Aris Mining Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold properties in Canada, Colombia, and Guyana. It also explores for silver and copper deposits. The company was formerly known as GCM Mining Corp. and changed its name to Aris Mining Corporation in September 2022. Aris Mining Corporation is based in Vancouver, Canada.