Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) versus Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) Head to Head Comparison

Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Energy Fuels and Hecla Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energy Fuels	0	2	2	0	2.50
Hecla Mining	0	2	4	1	2.86

Energy Fuels presently has a consensus price target of $8.58, suggesting a potential upside of 51.38%. Hecla Mining has a consensus price target of $7.56, suggesting a potential upside of 14.58%. Given Energy Fuels’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Energy Fuels is more favorable than Hecla Mining.

Volatility & Risk

Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.61, suggesting that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hecla Mining has a beta of 2.01, suggesting that its stock price is 101% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Energy Fuels and Hecla Mining”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Energy Fuels	$45.60 million	20.05	$99.86 million	($0.07)	-81.00
Hecla Mining	$777.78 million	5.31	-$84.22 million	($0.15)	-44.00

Energy Fuels has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hecla Mining. Energy Fuels is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hecla Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Energy Fuels and Hecla Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Energy Fuels	-27.23%	-6.56%	-6.24%
Hecla Mining	-5.56%	-0.42%	-0.28%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.2% of Energy Fuels shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of Hecla Mining shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Energy Fuels shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Hecla Mining shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Hecla Mining beats Energy Fuels on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Energy Fuels

Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction, recovery, recycling, exploration, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States. The company produces and sells vanadium pentoxide, rare earth elements, and heavy mineral sands, such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in May 2006. Energy Fuels Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and doré containing silver and gold. It flagship project is the Greens Creek mine located on Admiralty Island in southeast Alaska. Hecla Mining Company was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.