Head to Head Review: Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) and McEwen (NYSE:MUX)

Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) and McEwen (NYSE:MUX) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.0% of McEwen shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.1% of McEwen shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ivanhoe Mines and McEwen, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ivanhoe Mines	0	1	0	5	3.67
McEwen	0	0	4	1	3.20

McEwen has a consensus price target of $14.83, indicating a potential upside of 7.25%. Given McEwen’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe McEwen is more favorable than Ivanhoe Mines.

Profitability

This table compares Ivanhoe Mines and McEwen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ivanhoe Mines	N/A	N/A	N/A
McEwen	-8.05%	-2.76%	-1.94%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ivanhoe Mines and McEwen”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ivanhoe Mines	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.49	18.56
McEwen	$174.48 million	4.29	-$43.69 million	($0.25)	-55.32

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

Summary

Ivanhoe Mines beats McEwen on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the mining, development, and exploration of minerals and precious metals primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. It also holds a 100% interest in the Western Foreland exploration project covering an area of approximately 2,407 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company was formerly known as Ivanplats Limited and changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. in August 2013. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

About McEwen

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.