Ur-Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:URG) and McEwen Mining (NYSE:MUX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ur-Energy and McEwen Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Ur-Energy | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
| McEwen Mining | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Ur-Energy presently has a consensus target price of $1.40, indicating a potential upside of 35.92%. McEwen Mining has a consensus target price of $2.8333, indicating a potential upside of 176.42%. Given McEwen Mining's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe McEwen Mining is more favorable than Ur-Energy.
Profitability
This table compares Ur-Energy and McEwen Mining's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Ur-Energy | -32.77% | -18.27% | -8.51% |
| McEwen Mining | -140.63% | -16.86% | -12.95% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
14.6% of Ur-Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.0% of McEwen Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of Ur-Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.1% of McEwen Mining shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Ur-Energy and McEwen Mining's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Ur-Energy | $32.26 million | 5.84 | $-8,420,000.00 | ($0.05) | -20.00 |
| McEwen Mining | $117.02 million | 3.67 | $-59,750,000.00 | ($0.17) | -5.88 |
Ur-Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than McEwen Mining. Ur-Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than McEwen Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Ur-Energy has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, McEwen Mining has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
McEwen Mining beats Ur-Energy on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
