Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) vs. Aya Gold & Silver (NASDAQ:AYA) Head-To-Head Contrast

Aya Gold & Silver (NASDAQ:AYA) and Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Aya Gold & Silver and Olympic Steel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aya Gold & Silver	32.92%	25.49%	17.70%
Olympic Steel	0.73%	2.11%	1.14%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Aya Gold & Silver and Olympic Steel, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aya Gold & Silver	0	1	1	2	3.25
Olympic Steel	0	1	0	0	2.00

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aya Gold & Silver and Olympic Steel”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aya Gold & Silver	$202.10 million	19.38	$45.56 million	$0.56	48.54
Olympic Steel	$1.90 billion	0.28	$22.98 million	$1.17	40.91

Aya Gold & Silver has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Olympic Steel. Olympic Steel is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aya Gold & Silver, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.1% of Olympic Steel shares are held by institutional investors. 13.8% of Olympic Steel shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Aya Gold & Silver beats Olympic Steel on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aya Gold & Silver

Aya Gold & Silver Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, evaluation and development of precious metals projects principally in Morocco. The company primarily explores for gold and silver deposits. Its flagship project holds Zgounder property. Aya Gold & Silver Inc. is based in Mount Royal, Canada.

About Olympic Steel

Olympic Steel, Inc. processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates. The company also provides cutting-to-length, slitting, shearing, blanking, tempering, stretcher-leveling, plate and laser processing, forming and machining, tube processing, finishing, and fabrication services, as well as value-added services, such as saw cutting, laser cutting, beveling, threading, and grooving services. It serves metal consuming industries, such as manufacturers and fabricators of transportation and material handling lift equipment, construction, mining and farm equipment, agriculture equipment, storage tanks, environmental and energy generation equipment, automobiles, food service, and electrical equipment, as well as general and plate fabricators, and metals service centers through direct sales force. Olympic Steel, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is based in Highland Hills, Ohio.