Analyzing i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) and B2Gold (NYSE:BTG)

i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) and B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Risk & 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, B2Gold has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares i-80 Gold and B2Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
i-80 Gold	$54.91 million	4.23	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.57
B2Gold	$1.91 billion	1.67	$10.10 million	($0.56)	-4.32

B2Gold has higher revenue and earnings than i-80 Gold. B2Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than i-80 Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for i-80 Gold and B2Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
i-80 Gold	0	3	0	1	2.50
B2Gold	1	5	1	0	2.00

i-80 Gold presently has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 518.05%. B2Gold has a consensus price target of $4.02, indicating a potential upside of 65.98%. Given i-80 Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than B2Gold.

Profitability

This table compares i-80 Gold and B2Gold’s 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%
B2Gold	-38.42%	7.53%	5.56%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of B2Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of B2Gold shares are held 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

B2Gold beats i-80 Gold 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 B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp. In addition, it has a portfolio of other evaluation and exploration assets in Mali and Finland. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.