Critical Review: U.S. GoldMining (NASDAQ:USGO) vs. Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM)

U.S. GoldMining (NASDAQ:USGO) and Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for U.S. GoldMining and Fortuna Silver Mines, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. GoldMining	0	0	1	0	3.00
Fortuna Silver Mines	0	1	0	0	2.00

U.S. GoldMining presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 160.05%. Fortuna Silver Mines has a consensus target price of $9.08, suggesting a potential upside of 224.40%. Given Fortuna Silver Mines’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Fortuna Silver Mines is more favorable than U.S. GoldMining.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.2% of Fortuna Silver Mines shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Fortuna Silver Mines shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares U.S. GoldMining and Fortuna Silver Mines’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U.S. GoldMining	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fortuna Silver Mines	$665.35 million	1.22	-$128.13 million	($0.48)	-5.83

U.S. GoldMining has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fortuna Silver Mines.

Profitability

This table compares U.S. GoldMining and Fortuna Silver Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. GoldMining	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fortuna Silver Mines	-22.51%	1.92%	1.31%

Summary

Fortuna Silver Mines beats U.S. GoldMining on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U.S. GoldMining

U.S. GoldMining Inc., an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in the United States. It holds interests in the Whistler project, a gold-copper exploration project covering 17,159 Ha located in the Yentna mining district, Alaska. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Anchorage, Alaska. U.S. GoldMining Inc. operates as a subsidiary of GoldMining Inc.

About Fortuna Silver Mines

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. engages in the precious and base metal mining in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Peru, and Côte d'Ivoire. It holds interest in the Caylloma silver, lead, and zinc mine located in southern Peru; the San Jose silver and gold mine located in southern Mexico; the Lindero gold project located in Northern Argentina; Yaramoko gold mine located in south western Burkina Faso; and Séguéla gold mine located in south western Côte d'Ivoire. The company was formerly known as Fortuna Ventures Inc. and changed its name to Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. in June 2005. Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.