Contrasting Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) and Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU)

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) and Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Kaiser Aluminum has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Endeavour Silver has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Kaiser Aluminum and Endeavour Silver, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kaiser Aluminum	1	2	3	0	2.33
Endeavour Silver	0	4	5	1	2.70

Kaiser Aluminum presently has a consensus target price of $166.75, indicating a potential upside of 10.06%. Endeavour Silver has a consensus target price of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 67.15%. Given Endeavour Silver’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Endeavour Silver is more favorable than Kaiser Aluminum.

Profitability

This table compares Kaiser Aluminum and Endeavour Silver’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kaiser Aluminum	5.49%	24.71%	7.86%
Endeavour Silver	9.30%	17.46%	8.93%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.3% of Kaiser Aluminum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.1% of Endeavour Silver shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Kaiser Aluminum shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Endeavour Silver shares are held by 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 and Earnings

This table compares Kaiser Aluminum and Endeavour Silver”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kaiser Aluminum	$4.14 billion	0.60	$112.50 million	$13.49	11.23
Endeavour Silver	$737.20 million	3.49	-$119.10 million	$0.21	41.31

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

Summary

Endeavour Silver beats Kaiser Aluminum on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kaiser Aluminum

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products. The company's automotive extrusions include extruded aluminum products for structural components, crash management systems, anti-lock braking systems, and drawn tubes for drive shafts, as well as offers fabrication services, including sawing and cutting to length. Its packaging products consist of bare and coated 3000- and 5000-series alloy aluminum coil used for beverage and food packaging industry. In addition, the company's general engineering products comprise alloy plate, sheet, rod, bar, tube, wire, and standard extrusion shapes used in various applications, including the production of military vehicles, ordnances, semiconductor manufacturing cells, electronic devices, after-market motor sport parts, tooling plates, parts for machinery and equipment, bolts, screws, nails, and rivets. Further, its rerolled, extruded, drawn, and cast billet aluminum products used for industrial end uses. The company sells its products directly to customers through sales personnel located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and China, as well as through independent sales agents in other regions of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Kaiser Aluminum Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.

About Endeavour Silver

Endeavour Silver Corp., a silver mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation of mineral properties in Chile and the United States. It explores for gold and silver deposits, and precious metals. The company was formerly known as Endeavour Gold Corp. and changed its name to Endeavour Silver Corp. in September 2004. Endeavour Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.