Critical Comparison: Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) vs. American International Ventures (OTCMKTS:AIVN)

American International Ventures (OTCMKTS:AIVN) and Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) 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 risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

13.4% of Golden Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.0% of Golden Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American International Ventures and Golden Minerals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American International Ventures	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Golden Minerals	$12.00 million	0.34	-$9.23 million	($0.52)	-0.53

American International Ventures has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Golden Minerals.

Profitability

This table compares American International Ventures and Golden Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American International Ventures	N/A	N/A	N/A
Golden Minerals	N/A	-437.16%	-51.02%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for American International Ventures and Golden Minerals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American International Ventures	0	0	0	0	0.00
Golden Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00

Golden Minerals has a consensus target price of $1.50, suggesting a potential upside of 447.45%. Given Golden Minerals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Golden Minerals is more favorable than American International Ventures.

Summary

Golden Minerals beats American International Ventures on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American International Ventures

American International Ventures, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and extraction of precious metals, gold, and silver properties located in the Baja California, Mexico. Its flagship mining property is the Mother Lode property located in Baja California, Mexico. The company was formerly known as American Global Enterprises, Inc. and it changed its name to American International Ventures, Inc. in December 2000. American International Ventures, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is based in Lithia, Florida.

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.