Reviewing NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) & Lundin Mining (OTC:LUNMF)

NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) and Lundin Mining (OTC:LUNMF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

NioCorp Developments has a beta of -0.36, indicating that its share price is 136% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lundin Mining has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares NioCorp Developments and Lundin Mining”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NioCorp Developments	N/A	N/A	-$11.44 million	($0.77)	-3.03
Lundin Mining	$3.39 billion	2.23	$241.56 million	$0.36	24.17

Lundin Mining has higher revenue and earnings than NioCorp Developments. NioCorp Developments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lundin Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

4.0% of NioCorp Developments shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Lundin Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.1% of NioCorp Developments shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Lundin Mining shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares NioCorp Developments and Lundin Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NioCorp Developments	N/A	-8,973.12%	-206.20%
Lundin Mining	6.63%	5.02%	2.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for NioCorp Developments and Lundin Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NioCorp Developments	0	0	2	0	3.00
Lundin Mining	0	1	0	0	2.00

NioCorp Developments presently has a consensus price target of $3.63, suggesting a potential upside of 55.58%. Given NioCorp Developments’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe NioCorp Developments is more favorable than Lundin Mining.

Summary

Lundin Mining beats NioCorp Developments on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NioCorp Developments

NioCorp Developments Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of mineral deposits in North America. It owns and develops the Elk Creek niobium/scandium/titanium project that owns one 226.43-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights, and an additional 40 acres of mineral rights, as well as an optioned land package that covers an area of 1,396 acres located in Johnson County, southeast Nebraska. The company was formerly known as Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. and changed its name to NioCorp Developments Ltd. in March 2013. NioCorp Developments Ltd. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado.

About Lundin Mining

LUNDIN MINING CORPORATION is a rapidly growing, diversified base metals mining company with operations in Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Ireland. The Company currently has six mines in operation producing copper, nickel, lead and zinc. In addition, Lundin Mining holds a development project pipeline which includes the world class Tenke Fungurume copper cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ozernoe zinc project in Russia. The Company holds an extensive exploration portfolio and interests in international mining and exploration ventures.