Analyzing Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) and Taseko Mines (NYSE:TGB)

Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) and Taseko Mines (NYSE:TGB) 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 profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Golden Minerals and Taseko Mines”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golden Minerals	$300,000.00	8.46	-$9.23 million	($0.52)	-0.32
Taseko Mines	$600.30 million	1.52	$61.28 million	($0.14)	-20.57

Taseko Mines has higher revenue and earnings than Golden Minerals. Taseko Mines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Golden Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Golden Minerals and Taseko Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Golden Minerals	N/A	-1,051.75%	-57.22%
Taseko Mines	-2.09%	12.04%	2.89%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Golden Minerals and Taseko Mines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Golden Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00
Taseko Mines	0	0	1	0	3.00

Golden Minerals currently has a consensus price target of $1.50, suggesting a potential upside of 792.86%. Given Golden Minerals’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Golden Minerals is more favorable than Taseko Mines.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.4% of Golden Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.9% of Taseko Mines shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Golden Minerals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Taseko Mines 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.

Risk & Volatility

Golden Minerals has a beta of -0.68, meaning that its stock price is 168% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Taseko Mines has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Taseko Mines beats Golden Minerals on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Golden Minerals

Golden Minerals Company, a precious metals exploration company explores for mineral properties in Argentina, Nevada, and Mexico. It explores for gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and other minerals. The company was formerly known as Apex Silver Mines Limited and changed its name to Golden Minerals Company in March 2009. Golden Minerals Company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Golden, Colorado.

About Taseko Mines

Taseko Mines Limited, a mining company, acquires, develops, and operates mineral properties. It explores for copper, molybdenum, gold, niobium, and silver deposits. The company’s principal asset comprises 100% interest owned the Gibraltar mine located in British Columbia. It also holds interest in the Yellowhead copper project, the Aley niobium project, and the New Prosperity gold and copper project located in British Columbia; and the Florence copper project located in Arizona. Taseko Mines Limited was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.