Financial Review: Mesabi Trust (NYSE:MSB) versus Alderon Iron Ore (OTCMKTS:AXXDF)

Alderon Iron Ore (OTCMKTS:AXXDF) and Mesabi Trust (NYSE:MSB) 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 earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alderon Iron Ore and Mesabi Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alderon Iron Ore	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mesabi Trust	$22.96 million	19.69	$93.27 million	$7.07	4.87

Mesabi Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Alderon Iron Ore.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Alderon Iron Ore and Mesabi Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alderon Iron Ore	0	0	0	0	0.00
Mesabi Trust	0	0	1	0	3.00

Given Alderon Iron Ore’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Alderon Iron Ore is more favorable than Mesabi Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Alderon Iron Ore and Mesabi Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alderon Iron Ore	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mesabi Trust	96.44%	230.41%	145.75%

Risk & Volatility

Alderon Iron Ore has a beta of 1.96, meaning that its share price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesabi Trust has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mesabi Trust beats Alderon Iron Ore on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alderon Iron Ore

Alderon Iron Ore Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. Its principal asset is the Kami iron ore project that comprises 283 claim units covering an area of 7,075 hectares located in Western Labrador, Canada. The company was formerly known as Alderon Resource Corp. and changed its name to Alderon Iron Ore Corp. in September 2011. Alderon Iron Ore Corp. was incorporated in 1978 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Mesabi Trust

Mesabi Trust, a royalty trust, engages in iron ore mining business in the United States. Mesabi Trust was founded in 1961 and is based in New York, New York.