Contrasting Gatos Silver (NYSE:GATO) and Franklin Mining (OTCMKTS:FMNJ)

Gatos Silver (NYSE:GATO) and Franklin Mining (OTCMKTS:FMNJ) 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 risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Gatos Silver and Franklin Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gatos Silver	0	2	3	1	2.83
Franklin Mining	0	0	0	0	N/A

Gatos Silver currently has a consensus price target of $11.40, suggesting a potential upside of 9.20%. Given Gatos Silver’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Gatos Silver is more favorable than Franklin Mining.

Volatility and Risk

Gatos Silver has a beta of 2.16, indicating that its share price is 116% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Mining has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Gatos Silver and Franklin Mining’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gatos Silver	N/A	N/A	$12.86 million	$0.22	47.45
Franklin Mining	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Gatos Silver and Franklin Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gatos Silver	N/A	4.05%	3.77%
Franklin Mining	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.8% of Gatos Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Gatos Silver shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Franklin Mining shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gatos Silver beats Franklin Mining on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gatos Silver

Gatos Silver, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It primarily explores for silver deposits. The company also explores for zinc, lead, copper, and gold ores. Its flagship asset is the Los Gatos District, including the Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua, Mexico. The company was formerly known as Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Corporation and changed its name to Gatos Silver, Inc. in October 2020. Gatos Silver, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Franklin Mining

Franklin Mining, Inc., a mining and exploration company, acquires and develops mineral properties. The company explores for gold, silver, lead, and zinc deposits. It owns interests in the La Joya mining concession in Bolivia; and Madre de Dios Area, Ch-Mine, and Los Totems project in Peru. The company was formerly known as WCM Capital, Inc. Franklin Mining, Inc. was founded in 1864 and is based in Carson City, Nevada.