Head-To-Head Contrast: Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) versus i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) and Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) 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 profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Risk and Volatility

i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golden Minerals has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares i-80 Gold and Golden Minerals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
i-80 Gold	$54.91 million	4.09	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.54
Golden Minerals	$12.00 million	0.10	-$9.23 million	($0.52)	-0.16

Golden Minerals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than i-80 Gold. i-80 Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Golden Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.4% of Golden Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.0% of Golden Minerals shares are owned by company 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 i-80 Gold and Golden Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%
Golden Minerals	N/A	-1,051.75%	-57.22%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for i-80 Gold and Golden Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
i-80 Gold	0	3	0	1	2.50
Golden Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00

i-80 Gold currently has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 530.52%. Golden Minerals has a consensus price target of $1.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1,751.85%. Given Golden Minerals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Golden Minerals is more favorable than i-80 Gold.

Summary

i-80 Gold beats Golden Minerals on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About i-80 Gold

i-80 Gold Corp. is a mining company, engages in the exploration, development and production of gold and silver mineral deposits principally in the United States. i-80 Gold Corp. is based in Reno, Nevada.

About Golden Minerals

Golden Minerals Company, a precious metals exploration company explores for mineral properties in Argentina, Nevada, and Mexico. It explores for gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and other minerals. The company was formerly known as Apex Silver Mines Limited and changed its name to Golden Minerals Company in March 2009. Golden Minerals Company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Golden, Colorado.