Financial Contrast: Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) & Gatos Silver (NYSE:GATO)

Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) and Gatos Silver (NYSE:GATO) 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, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.4% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.8% of Gatos Silver shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Gatos Silver shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Hycroft Mining and Gatos Silver, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hycroft Mining	0	0	0	0	N/A
Gatos Silver	0	2	2	0	2.50

Gatos Silver has a consensus price target of $10.25, suggesting a potential downside of 5.62%. Given Gatos Silver’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Gatos Silver is more favorable than Hycroft Mining.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hycroft Mining and Gatos Silver’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hycroft Mining	$33.23 million	2.25	-$55.02 million	($2.90)	-1.22
Gatos Silver	N/A	N/A	$12.86 million	$0.19	57.16

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

Profitability

This table compares Hycroft Mining and Gatos Silver’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hycroft Mining	N/A	-178.38%	-25.25%
Gatos Silver	N/A	3.63%	3.33%

Risk and Volatility

Hycroft Mining has a beta of 2, meaning that its share price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gatos Silver has a beta of 2.1, meaning that its share price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Gatos Silver beats Hycroft Mining on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hycroft Mining

Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a gold and silver development company in the United States. The company holds interests in the Hycroft mine that consists of 30 private parcels with patented claims comprising approximately 1,787 acres, and 3,247 unpatented mining claims that encompass approximately 62,298 acres located in the state of Nevada. Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation is based in Winnemucca, Nevada.

About Gatos Silver

Gatos Silver, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It primarily explores for silver deposits. The company also explores for zinc, lead, copper, and gold ores. Its flagship asset is the Los Gatos District, including the Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua, Mexico. The company was formerly known as Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Corporation and changed its name to Gatos Silver, Inc. in October 2020. Gatos Silver, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.