Avino Silver & Gold Mines (NYSE:ASM) and Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Critical Contrast

Avino Silver & Gold Mines (NYSE:ASM) and Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Avino Silver & Gold Mines and Century Aluminum”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avino Silver & Gold Mines	$117.81 million	7.48	$540,000.00	$0.26	19.96
Century Aluminum	$2.53 billion	1.34	$41.80 million	$5.79	5.91

Century Aluminum has higher revenue and earnings than Avino Silver & Gold Mines. Century Aluminum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Avino Silver & Gold Mines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Avino Silver & Gold Mines and Century Aluminum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avino Silver & Gold Mines	6.57%	12.13%	10.16%
Century Aluminum	22.63%	33.83%	15.14%

Risk & Volatility

Avino Silver & Gold Mines has a beta of 1.79, meaning that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.07, meaning that its share price is 107% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Avino Silver & Gold Mines and Century Aluminum, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avino Silver & Gold Mines	0	1	4	0	2.80
Century Aluminum	1	2	4	0	2.43

Avino Silver & Gold Mines presently has a consensus price target of $8.92, suggesting a potential upside of 71.80%. Century Aluminum has a consensus price target of $64.60, suggesting a potential upside of 88.89%. Given Century Aluminum’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Century Aluminum is more favorable than Avino Silver & Gold Mines.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

3.1% of Avino Silver & Gold Mines shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Avino Silver & Gold Mines shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Century Aluminum shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Century Aluminum beats Avino Silver & Gold Mines on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avino Silver & Gold Mines

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. engages in the mining and exploration activities. It focuses on silver reserves in the Durango region of North Central Mexico. It operates through the Silver, Gold, and Copper segments. The company was founded on May 15, 1968 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production of standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products in the United States and Iceland. It also owns and operates an alumina production facility in Iceland, and a carbon anode production facility in the Netherlands. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.