Critical Comparison: Gold Resource (NYSE:GORO) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gold Resource	0	0	1	0	3.00
i-80 Gold	0	2	0	1	2.67

Gold Resource currently has a consensus price target of $1.25, suggesting a potential upside of 128.85%. i-80 Gold has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 418.60%. Given i-80 Gold’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than Gold Resource.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gold Resource	-61.31%	-35.25%	-16.15%
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Volatility & Risk

Gold Resource has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gold Resource and i-80 Gold”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gold Resource	$73.90 million	0.70	-$16.02 million	($0.49)	-1.11
i-80 Gold	$52.94 million	5.64	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.87

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

18.4% of Gold Resource shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Gold Resource shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gold Resource beats i-80 Gold on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gold Resource

Gold Resource Corporation engages in the exploration, development, and production of gold and silver projects in Mexico and the United States. The company also explores for copper, lead, and zinc deposits. Its principal assets are the 100% owned Don David gold mine and Back Forty project covering approximately 1,304 hectares located in Menominee county, Michigan. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

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.