Head to Head Contrast: Quaterra Resources (OTCMKTS:QTRRF) and Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC)

Quaterra Resources (OTCMKTS:QTRRF) and Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Quaterra Resources has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Quaterra Resources and Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quaterra Resources	N/A	-6.27%	-6.15%
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-1.37%	-1.08%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Quaterra Resources and Lithium Americas (Argentina), as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quaterra Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	3	3	1	2.71

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a consensus target price of $7.19, indicating a potential upside of 179.67%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Quaterra Resources.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Quaterra Resources and Lithium Americas (Argentina)”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quaterra Resources	N/A	N/A	-$980,000.00	N/A	N/A
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.79	0.33

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Quaterra Resources on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quaterra Resources

Quaterra Resources, Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. It holds interest in the Groundhog and Quaterra’s Yerington Copper projects. The company was founded on May 11, 1993 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.