Contrasting Namib Minerals (NASDAQ:NAMM) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

Namib Minerals (NASDAQ:NAMM) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Namib Minerals has a beta of -0.11, suggesting that its stock price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

59.5% of Namib Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 30.5% of Namib Minerals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Namib Minerals and i-80 Gold”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Namib Minerals	N/A	N/A	-$20.75 million	($1.27)	-2.46
i-80 Gold	$76.62 million	10.20	-$65.20 million	($0.29)	-3.41

Namib Minerals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than i-80 Gold. i-80 Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Namib Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Namib Minerals and i-80 Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Namib Minerals	1	0	0	0	1.00
i-80 Gold	0	2	3	1	2.83

i-80 Gold has a consensus price target of $1.50, suggesting a potential upside of 51.52%. Given i-80 Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than Namib Minerals.

Profitability

This table compares Namib Minerals and i-80 Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Namib Minerals	N/A	N/A	-56.66%
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Summary

i-80 Gold beats Namib Minerals on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Namib Minerals

Namib Minerals is a gold producer, developer and explorer with operations focused principally in Zimbabwe. Namib Minerals, formerly known as Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VI, is based in New York.

About i-80 Gold

i-80 Gold Corp. is a mining company, engages in the exploration, development and production of gold and silver mineral deposits principally in the United States. i-80 Gold Corp. is based in Reno, Nevada.