Contrasting Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) & Ramaco Resources (NASDAQ:METCB)

Ramaco Resources (NASDAQ:METCB) and Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Ramaco Resources and Royal Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ramaco Resources	-11.98%	-13.54%	-6.01%
Royal Gold	47.74%	12.06%	9.41%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Ramaco Resources and Royal Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ramaco Resources	1	0	0	0	1.00
Royal Gold	0	3	9	0	2.75

Royal Gold has a consensus price target of $295.80, suggesting a potential upside of 22.55%. Given Royal Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Royal Gold is more favorable than Ramaco Resources.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

9.6% of Ramaco Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of Royal Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Royal Gold shares are owned 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.

Volatility and Risk

Ramaco Resources has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Royal Gold has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ramaco Resources and Royal Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ramaco Resources	$536.62 million	0.45	-$51.45 million	($1.07)	-3.57
Royal Gold	$1.03 billion	19.85	$467.27 million	$9.16	26.35

Royal Gold has higher revenue and earnings than Ramaco Resources. Ramaco Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Royal Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Royal Gold beats Ramaco Resources on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ramaco Resources

Ramaco Resources, Inc. engages in the development, operation, and sale of metallurgical coal. Its development portfolio includes the Elk Creek project that covers an area of approximately 20,200 acres located in southern West Virginia; the Berwind property covering an area of approximately 62,500 acres situated on the border of West Virginia and Virginia; the Knox Creek property, which covers an area of approximately 64,050 acres is located in Virginia; the Maben property covering an area of approximately 28,000 acres situated in southwestern Pennsylvania southern West Virginia; and the Brook Mine property that covers an area of approximately 16,000 acres located in northeastern Wyoming. The company serves blast furnace steel mills and coke plants in the United States, as well as metallurgical coal consumers internationally. Ramaco Resources, Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, acquires and manages precious metal streams, royalties, and related interests. The company engages in acquiring stream and royalty interests or to finance projects that are in production, development, or in the exploration stage in exchange for stream or royalty interests, which primarily consists of gold, silver, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, and other metals. Its stream and royalty interests on properties are located in the United States, Canada, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Australia, Africa, Mexico, Botswana, and internationally. Royal Gold, Inc. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.