Comparing Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) & Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM)

Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM) and Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

32.9% of Electra Battery Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.9% of Sibanye Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.7% of Electra Battery Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Sibanye Gold shares are owned by company 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Electra Battery Materials and Sibanye Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	N/A	-$21.49 million	($1.27)	-0.92
Sibanye Gold	$6.12 billion	N/A	-$398.42 million	N/A	N/A

Electra Battery Materials has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Sibanye Gold.

Volatility and Risk

Electra Battery Materials has a beta of 2.58, suggesting that its share price is 158% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sibanye Gold has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Electra Battery Materials and Sibanye Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Electra Battery Materials	1	0	1	0	2.00
Sibanye Gold	1	1	2	1	2.60

Electra Battery Materials presently has a consensus price target of $2.10, suggesting a potential upside of 80.26%. Sibanye Gold has a consensus price target of $12.87, suggesting a potential downside of 33.83%. Given Electra Battery Materials’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Electra Battery Materials is more favorable than Sibanye Gold.

Profitability

This table compares Electra Battery Materials and Sibanye Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	-48.57%	-17.70%
Sibanye Gold	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Sibanye Gold beats Electra Battery Materials on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Electra Battery Materials

Electra Battery Materials Corporation engages in the acquisition and exploration of resource properties in the United States and Canada. It primarily explores for cobalt and silver deposits. The company's flagship project is the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project located in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also operates a cobalt refinery for producing battery materials for the electric vehicle supply chain. The company was formerly known as First Cobalt Corp. and changed its name to Electra Battery Materials Corporation in December 2021. Electra Battery Materials Corporation was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Sibanye Gold

Sibanye Stillwater Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals mining company in South Africa, the United States, Europe, and Australia. The company produces gold; platinum group metals (PGMs), including palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium; chrome; nickel; and silver, cobalt, and copper. It owns the East Boulder and Stillwater mines located in Montana, the United States; and Columbus metallurgical complex, which smelts the material mined to produce PGM-rich filter cake, as well as conducts PGM recycling activities. The company also involved in the Kroondal, Rustenburg, Marikana, and Platinum Mile operations situated in South Africa; Mimosa located on the southern portion in Zimbabwe; the Driefontein, Kloof, Rand Refinery, and Cooke surface operations located on the West Rand of the Witwatersrand Basin; and the Beatrix situated in the southern Free State. In addition, it owns an interest in surface tailings retreatment facilities; the Marathon PGM project in Ontario, Canada; the Altar and Rio Grande copper gold projects in the Andes in north-west Argentina; the Hoedspruit; and the Burnstone and southern Free State gold projects in South Africa. Sibanye Stillwater Limited was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Weltevreden Park, South Africa.