Comparing Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) and Lithium (OTCMKTS:LTUM)

Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) and Lithium (OTCMKTS:LTUM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Sibanye Gold has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sibanye Gold	$7.25 billion	0.84	-$289.58 million	N/A	N/A
Lithium	N/A	N/A	-$500,000.00	N/A	N/A

Lithium has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sibanye Gold.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Sibanye Gold and Lithium, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sibanye Gold	2	1	2	0	2.00
Lithium	0	0	0	0	0.00

Sibanye Gold presently has a consensus target price of $17.93, suggesting a potential upside of 109.01%. Given Sibanye Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Sibanye Gold is more favorable than Lithium.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sibanye Gold	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lithium	N/A	-136.62%	-18.80%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

34.9% of Sibanye Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Sibanye Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Lithium shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Sibanye Gold beats Lithium on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Lithium

Lithium Corporation, an exploration stage mining company, engages in the identification, acquisition, and exploration of metals and minerals in Nevada and British Columbia. It explores for lithium/boron/potassium, graphite, gold, and silver deposits, as well as titanium and rare earth elements. The company was formerly known as Utalk Communications Inc. and changed its name to Lithium Corporation in September 2009. Lithium Corporation was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Elko, Nevada.