Financial Review: McEwen (NYSE:MUX) and Pacific North West Capital (OTCMKTS:NMTLF)

McEwen (NYSE:MUX) and Pacific North West Capital (OTCMKTS:NMTLF) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Volatility and Risk

McEwen has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific North West Capital has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares McEwen and Pacific North West Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McEwen	-7.16%	-2.45%	-1.66%
Pacific North West Capital	N/A	-0.36%	-0.35%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for McEwen and Pacific North West Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McEwen	1	0	4	0	2.60
Pacific North West Capital	0	0	0	0	0.00

McEwen currently has a consensus price target of $25.50, suggesting a potential downside of 10.01%. Given McEwen’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe McEwen is more favorable than Pacific North West Capital.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares McEwen and Pacific North West Capital”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
McEwen	$174.48 million	8.85	-$43.69 million	($0.22)	-128.80
Pacific North West Capital	N/A	N/A	-$370,000.00	N/A	N/A

Pacific North West Capital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than McEwen.

Summary

McEwen beats Pacific North West Capital on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Pacific North West Capital

New Age Metals Inc., a mineral exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of platinum group metals (PGMs), and precious and base metal properties in Canada. The company explores for rhodium, palladium, platinum, gold, nickel, copper, and lithium deposits. It holds interests in the River Valley PGE project located in the Dana and Pardo townships of Northern Ontario; the Genesis PGE project located in south central Alaska; and lithium projects situated to the northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba. New Age Metals Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.