Head-To-Head Analysis: Northern Dynasty Minerals (NASDAQ:NAK) & i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.6% of Northern Dynasty Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Northern Dynasty Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Northern Dynasty Minerals and i-80 Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Dynasty Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00
i-80 Gold	0	0	3	1	3.25

Northern Dynasty Minerals currently has a consensus target price of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.55%. i-80 Gold has a consensus target price of $1.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.38%. Given Northern Dynasty Minerals’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Northern Dynasty Minerals is more favorable than i-80 Gold.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Northern Dynasty 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
Northern Dynasty Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.12)	-17.00
i-80 Gold	$97.13 million	10.71	-$65.20 million	($0.24)	-5.42

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

Profitability

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

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

Volatility & Risk

Northern Dynasty Minerals has a beta of -0.11, meaning that its share price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

i-80 Gold beats Northern Dynasty Minerals on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Northern Dynasty Minerals

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. engages in the exploration of mineral properties in the United States. Its principal mineral property is the Pebble Copper-Gold-Molybdenum-Silver-Rhenium project comprising 1,840 mineral claims that covers an area of approximately 274 square miles located in southwest Alaska, 17 miles from the villages of Iliamna and Newhalen, and approximately 200 miles southwest of the city of Anchorage. The company was formerly known as Northern Dynasty Explorations Ltd. and changed its name to Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. in October 1997. Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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.