Head to Head Review: Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) vs. Paladin Energy (OTCMKTS:PALAF)

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) and Paladin Energy (OTCMKTS:PALAF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.3% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Paladin Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Wheaton Precious Metals and Paladin Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wheaton Precious Metals	54.72%	13.32%	12.89%
Paladin Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Wheaton Precious Metals has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paladin Energy has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Wheaton Precious Metals and Paladin Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wheaton Precious Metals	0	2	10	1	2.92
Paladin Energy	0	4	0	0	2.00

Wheaton Precious Metals currently has a consensus target price of $130.78, indicating a potential upside of 11.12%. Paladin Energy has a consensus target price of $9.05, indicating a potential upside of 29.66%. Given Paladin Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Paladin Energy is more favorable than Wheaton Precious Metals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Wheaton Precious Metals and Paladin Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wheaton Precious Metals	$1.28 billion	41.59	$529.14 million	$2.20	53.50
Paladin Energy	$177.68 million	17.65	-$44.64 million	($0.12)	-58.17

Wheaton Precious Metals has higher revenue and earnings than Paladin Energy. Paladin Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wheaton Precious Metals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Wheaton Precious Metals beats Paladin Energy on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Paladin Energy

Paladin Energy Ltd develops, explores for, owns, and operates uranium mines in Australia, Canada, and Africa. The company operates through Exploration, Namibia, and Australia segments. Its flagship project is the Langer Heinrich mine located in the Namib Desert in Namibia. The company was formerly known as Paladin Resources Ltd and changed its name to Paladin Energy Limited in November 2007. Paladin Energy Ltd was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Perth, Australia.