Critical Contrast: Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) and Excellon Resources (OTCMKTS:EXNRF)

Excellon Resources (OTCMKTS:EXNRF) and Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Excellon Resources and Cameco, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Excellon Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00
Cameco	0	2	13	0	2.87

Cameco has a consensus target price of $150.40, suggesting a potential upside of 30.50%. Given Cameco’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cameco is more favorable than Excellon Resources.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.2% of Cameco shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Excellon Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Cameco shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Excellon Resources and Cameco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Excellon Resources	N/A	-30.93%	-14.38%
Cameco	17.00%	9.35%	6.45%

Volatility and Risk

Excellon Resources has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cameco has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Excellon Resources and Cameco”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Excellon Resources	N/A	N/A	-$5.22 million	($0.03)	-12.45
Cameco	$2.49 billion	20.14	$421.96 million	$0.97	118.82

Cameco has higher revenue and earnings than Excellon Resources. Excellon Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cameco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Cameco beats Excellon Resources on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Excellon Resources

Excellon Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and advancement of mineral properties. It primarily explores for silver, lead, zinc, and gold deposits, as well as base metals. The company holds 100% interests in the Platosa property covering an area of approximately 11,000 hectares located in Durango State, Mexico; the Evolución property that covers an area of 31,280 hectares situated in the states of Durango and Zacatecas, Mexico; and the Silver City project totaling an area of 340 square kilometers in Saxony, Germany. It also holds 100% interests in the Kilgore project comprising 789 unpatented federal lode claims that covers an area of 6,788 hectares located in Clark County, eastern Idaho; and the Oakley project covering an area of 2,833 hectares in Oakley, Idaho. In addition, the company has an option to acquire the La Negra project located in Querétaro State, Mexico. Excellon Resources Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Cameco

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through Uranium, Fuel Services, Westinghouse segments. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. The Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services. This segment also produces CANDU reactor fuel bundles and other reactor components. The company offers nuclear fuel processing services. The Westinghouse segment engages in the manufacture of nuclear reactor technology original equipment. This segment provides products and services to commercial utilities and government agencies; and outage and maintenance services, engineering support, instrumentation and controls equipment, plant modification, and components and parts to nuclear reactors. It sells its uranium and fuel services to nuclear utilities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Cameco Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada.