Financial Contrast: NexGen Energy (NYSE:NXE) and Impala Platinum (OTCMKTS:IMPUY)

NexGen Energy (NYSE:NXE) and Impala Platinum (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for NexGen Energy and Impala Platinum, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NexGen Energy	1	1	4	0	2.50
Impala Platinum	0	1	2	0	2.67

Impala Platinum has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 120.52%. Given Impala Platinum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Impala Platinum is more favorable than NexGen Energy.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.4% of NexGen Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of NexGen Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NexGen Energy and Impala Platinum”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NexGen Energy	N/A	N/A	-$221.63 million	($0.49)	-20.56
Impala Platinum	$4.71 billion	1.99	$41.85 million	N/A	N/A

Impala Platinum has higher revenue and earnings than NexGen Energy.

Risk & Volatility

NexGen Energy has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Impala Platinum has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NexGen Energy and Impala Platinum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NexGen Energy	N/A	-13.11%	-8.91%
Impala Platinum	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Impala Platinum beats NexGen Energy on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NexGen Energy

NexGen Energy Ltd., an exploration and development stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation and development of uranium properties in Canada. It holds a 100% interest in the Rook I project that consists of 32 contiguous mineral claims totaling an area of 35,065 hectares located in the southwestern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Impala Platinum

Impala Platinum Holdings Limited engages in the mining, processing, concentrating, refining, and sale of platinum group metals (PGMs) and associated base metals. The company produces platinum, palladium, rhodium, nickel, and by-products, as well as ruthenium, iridium, and gold. It has operations on the PGM-bearing orebodies, including the Bushveld Complex located in South Africa; and the Great Dyke situated in Zimbabwe, as well as the Canadian Shield. The company markets and sells its products in South Africa, Japan, China, the United States, and Europe. Impala Platinum Holdings Limited was incorporated in 1957 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.