Comparing Nouveau Monde Graphite (NYSE:NMG) & NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB)

Nouveau Monde Graphite (NYSE:NMG) and NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Nouveau Monde Graphite and NioCorp Developments, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nouveau Monde Graphite	2	1	3	0	2.17
NioCorp Developments	1	0	2	0	2.33

Nouveau Monde Graphite presently has a consensus target price of $4.87, indicating a potential upside of 47.92%. NioCorp Developments has a consensus target price of $6.63, indicating a potential downside of 20.18%. Given Nouveau Monde Graphite’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Nouveau Monde Graphite is more favorable than NioCorp Developments.

Risk and Volatility

Nouveau Monde Graphite has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NioCorp Developments has a beta of -0.18, indicating that its stock price is 118% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.1% of Nouveau Monde Graphite shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.0% of NioCorp Developments shares are held by institutional investors. 22.7% of Nouveau Monde Graphite shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.1% of NioCorp Developments shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Nouveau Monde Graphite and NioCorp Developments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nouveau Monde Graphite	N/A	-47.42%	-35.20%
NioCorp Developments	N/A	-148.03%	-67.84%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nouveau Monde Graphite and NioCorp Developments”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nouveau Monde Graphite	N/A	N/A	-$53.48 million	($0.35)	-9.40
NioCorp Developments	N/A	N/A	-$17.41 million	($0.34)	-24.41

NioCorp Developments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nouveau Monde Graphite, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Nouveau Monde Graphite beats NioCorp Developments on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nouveau Monde Graphite

Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and evaluation of mineral properties in Quebec, Canada. It primarily explores for graphite. The company’s flagship property is the 100% owned Matawinie graphite property including 176 mining claims covering an area of 9,264 hectares located in Quebec. It also involved in the real estate and trading activities. The company was formerly known as Nouveau Monde Mining Enterprises Inc. and changed its name to Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. in February 2017. Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Saint-Michel-Des-Saints, Canada.

About NioCorp Developments

NioCorp Developments Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of mineral deposits in North America. It owns and develops the Elk Creek niobium/scandium/titanium project that owns one 226.43-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights, and an additional 40 acres of mineral rights, as well as an optioned land package that covers an area of 1,396 acres located in Johnson County, southeast Nebraska. The company was formerly known as Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. and changed its name to NioCorp Developments Ltd. in March 2013. NioCorp Developments Ltd. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado.