Head-To-Head Survey: McEwen (NYSE:MUX) vs. Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) and McEwen (NYSE:MUX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.0% of McEwen shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Lithium Americas shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.1% of McEwen shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas and McEwen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas	N/A	-8.50%	-4.12%
McEwen	-7.16%	-2.45%	-1.66%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Lithium Americas and McEwen, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas	1	9	3	0	2.15
McEwen	1	0	4	1	2.83

Lithium Americas currently has a consensus target price of $5.81, indicating a potential downside of 4.87%. McEwen has a consensus target price of $23.17, indicating a potential downside of 11.31%. Given Lithium Americas’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Lithium Americas is more favorable than McEwen.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lithium Americas and McEwen”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas	N/A	N/A	-$42.53 million	($1.05)	-5.82
McEwen	$174.48 million	8.16	-$43.69 million	($0.22)	-118.73

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

Volatility and Risk

Lithium Americas has a beta of 1.57, suggesting that its share price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, McEwen has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

McEwen beats Lithium Americas on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lithium Americas

Lithium Americas Corp. engages in the exploration and development of lithium properties in the United States and Canada. It holds a 100% interest in the Thacker Pass project located in northern Nevada, as well as investments in exploration properties in the United States and Canada. Lithium Americas Corp. was incorporated in 2023 and is headquartered 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.