i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) & Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) Critical Survey

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Centerra Gold and i-80 Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Centerra Gold	0	4	1	1	2.50
i-80 Gold	0	2	0	1	2.67

Centerra Gold presently has a consensus target price of $11.00, indicating a potential upside of 77.28%. i-80 Gold has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 520.57%. Given i-80 Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than Centerra Gold.

Profitability

This table compares Centerra Gold and i-80 Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Centerra Gold	6.62%	8.83%	6.61%
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Centerra Gold and i-80 Gold”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Centerra Gold	$1.21 billion	1.07	-$81.28 million	$0.36	17.24
i-80 Gold	$52.94 million	4.71	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.57

i-80 Gold has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Centerra Gold. i-80 Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Centerra Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Centerra Gold has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

55.4% of Centerra Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Centerra Gold shares are held 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.

Summary

Centerra Gold beats i-80 Gold on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Centerra Gold

Centerra Gold Inc., a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold and copper properties in North America, Turkey, and internationally. The company explores for gold, copper, and molybdenum deposits. Its flagship projects are the 100% owned Mount Milligan gold-copper mine located in British Columbia, Canada; and the Öksüt gold mine located in Turkey. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About i-80 Gold

i-80 Gold Corp. is a mining company, engages in the exploration, development and production of gold and silver mineral deposits principally in the United States. i-80 Gold Corp. is based in Reno, Nevada.