Financial Review: AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

36.1% of AngloGold Ashanti shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for AngloGold Ashanti and i-80 Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AngloGold Ashanti	1	1	4	0	2.50
i-80 Gold	0	3	0	1	2.50

AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus target price of $33.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.32%. i-80 Gold has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 322.04%. Given i-80 Gold’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than AngloGold Ashanti.

Volatility and Risk

AngloGold Ashanti has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AngloGold Ashanti and i-80 Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AngloGold Ashanti	$5.79 billion	2.29	-$235.00 million	N/A	N/A
i-80 Gold	$54.91 million	6.64	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-2.30

i-80 Gold has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AngloGold Ashanti.

Profitability

This table compares AngloGold Ashanti and i-80 Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AngloGold Ashanti	N/A	N/A	N/A
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Summary

i-80 Gold beats AngloGold Ashanti on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania. AngloGold Ashanti plc was incorporated in 1944 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

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.