Contrasting Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Golden Minerals and i-80 Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Golden Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00
i-80 Gold	0	3	0	1	2.50

Golden Minerals presently has a consensus target price of $1.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1,763.35%. i-80 Gold has a consensus target price of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 516.63%. Given Golden Minerals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Golden Minerals is more favorable than i-80 Gold.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.4% of Golden Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.0% of Golden Minerals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Golden Minerals 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
Golden Minerals	$12.00 million	0.10	-$9.23 million	($0.52)	-0.15
i-80 Gold	$52.94 million	4.40	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.58

Golden Minerals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than i-80 Gold. i-80 Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Golden Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Golden Minerals has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Golden Minerals	N/A	-1,051.75%	-57.22%
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Summary

i-80 Gold beats Golden Minerals on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.