Critical Comparison: i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) vs. Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM)

i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) and Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for i-80 Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
i-80 Gold	0	0	1	0	3.00
Agnico Eagle Mines	0	6	13	0	2.68

i-80 Gold presently has a consensus price target of $2.75, suggesting a potential upside of 89.66%. Agnico Eagle Mines has a consensus price target of $224.33, suggesting a potential upside of 29.04%. Given i-80 Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than Agnico Eagle Mines.

Risk & Volatility

i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agnico Eagle Mines has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.3% of Agnico Eagle Mines shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of i-80 Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Agnico Eagle Mines shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares i-80 Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%
Agnico Eagle Mines	40.44%	22.04%	16.22%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares i-80 Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
i-80 Gold	$130.05 million	9.67	-$65.20 million	($0.30)	-4.83
Agnico Eagle Mines	$14.53 billion	6.07	$4.46 billion	$11.69	14.87

Agnico Eagle Mines has higher revenue and earnings than i-80 Gold. i-80 Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Agnico Eagle Mines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Agnico Eagle Mines beats i-80 Gold on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About i-80 Gold

i-80 Gold Corp. is a mining company, engages in the exploration, development and production of gold and silver mineral deposits principally in the United States. i-80 Gold Corp. is based in Reno, Nevada.

About Agnico Eagle Mines

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a gold mining company, exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It explores for gold. The company's mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in Canada, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited was incorporated in 1953 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.