Aris Mining (NYSE:ARMN) & McEwen Mining (NYSE:MUX) Critical Comparison

McEwen Mining (NYSE:MUX) and Aris Mining (NYSE:ARMN) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

McEwen Mining has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aris Mining has a beta of -0.46, indicating that its share price is 146% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for McEwen Mining and Aris Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McEwen Mining	0	0	2	0	3.00
Aris Mining	0	0	0	0	0.00

McEwen Mining presently has a consensus target price of $15.25, suggesting a potential upside of 99.87%. Given McEwen Mining’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe McEwen Mining is more favorable than Aris Mining.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares McEwen Mining and Aris Mining”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
McEwen Mining	$174.48 million	2.36	$55.30 million	($0.86)	-8.87
Aris Mining	$510.60 million	1.81	$11.42 million	$0.04	134.75

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

Profitability

This table compares McEwen Mining and Aris Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McEwen Mining	51.31%	20.77%	15.70%
Aris Mining	-0.66%	4.97%	2.70%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.0% of McEwen Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.8% of Aris Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.1% of McEwen Mining shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

McEwen Mining beats Aris Mining on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About McEwen Mining

McEwen Mining Inc. engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold and silver. It also explores for copper deposits. The company owns 100% interests in the El Gallo and Fenix projects located in Mexico; and the Black Fox Mine and Stock Mill, Grey Fox, and Froome and Tamarack properties in Canada. It also owns interests in the Fuller, Davidson-Tisdale, Buffalo Ankerite, and Paymaster exploration properties located in Canada; and a 49% interest in the San José mine located in Argentina. In addition, the company owns 100% interests in the Gold Bar and Tonkin properties located in Eureka County, Nevada; and interests in the Los Azules copper project located in the cordilleran region in the province of San Juan, Argentina. The company was formerly known as US Gold Corporation and changed its name to McEwen Mining Inc. in January 2012. McEwen Mining Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Aris Mining

Aris Mining Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold properties in Canada, Colombia, and Guyana. It also explores for silver and copper deposits. The company was formerly known as GCM Mining Corp. and changed its name to Aris Mining Corporation in September 2022. Aris Mining Corporation is based in Vancouver, Canada.