Critical Contrast: Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) vs. Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF)

Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) and Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.4% of Pan American Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.9% of Pan American Silver shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ivanhoe Mines and Pan American Silver”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ivanhoe Mines	$441.61 million	26.36	$261.55 million	$0.09	90.69
Pan American Silver	$3.62 billion	5.36	$978.00 million	$3.31	14.15

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

Volatility and Risk

Ivanhoe Mines has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pan American Silver has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Ivanhoe Mines and Pan American Silver, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ivanhoe Mines	0	4	1	1	2.50
Pan American Silver	0	3	7	0	2.70

Ivanhoe Mines presently has a consensus target price of $15.20, suggesting a potential upside of 86.22%. Pan American Silver has a consensus target price of $67.71, suggesting a potential upside of 44.55%. Given Ivanhoe Mines’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ivanhoe Mines is more favorable than Pan American Silver.

Profitability

This table compares Ivanhoe Mines and Pan American Silver’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ivanhoe Mines	23.47%	5.07%	3.81%
Pan American Silver	32.04%	20.01%	14.48%

Summary

Pan American Silver beats Ivanhoe Mines on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the mining, development, and exploration of minerals and precious metals primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. It also holds a 100% interest in the Western Foreland exploration project covering an area of approximately 2,407 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company was formerly known as Ivanplats Limited and changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. in August 2013. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

About Pan American Silver

Pan American Silver Corp. engages in the exploration, mine development, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation of silver, gold, zinc, lead, and copper mines in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The company was formerly known as Pan American Minerals Corp. and changed its name to Pan American Silver Corp. in April 1995. Pan American Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.