Critical Comparison: Vista Gold (NYSE:VGZ) and Northern Dynasty Minerals (NASDAQ:NAK)

Northern Dynasty Minerals (NASDAQ:NAK) and Vista Gold (NYSE:VGZ) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Northern Dynasty Minerals and Vista Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Dynasty Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00
Vista Gold	0	0	1	0	3.00

Northern Dynasty Minerals presently has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.48%. Vista Gold has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.29%. Given Northern Dynasty Minerals’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Northern Dynasty Minerals is more favorable than Vista Gold.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Northern Dynasty Minerals and Vista Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northern Dynasty Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.12)	-17.58
Vista Gold	N/A	N/A	-$6.59 million	($0.07)	-38.86

Vista Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northern Dynasty Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Northern Dynasty Minerals has a beta of 0.08, suggesting that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vista Gold has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Northern Dynasty Minerals and Vista Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northern Dynasty Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A
Vista Gold	N/A	93.43%	68.97%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.6% of Northern Dynasty Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.3% of Vista Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Northern Dynasty Minerals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of Vista Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Vista Gold beats Northern Dynasty Minerals on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Northern Dynasty Minerals

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. engages in the exploration of mineral properties in the United States. Its principal mineral property is the Pebble Copper-Gold-Molybdenum-Silver-Rhenium project comprising 1,840 mineral claims that covers an area of approximately 274 square miles located in southwest Alaska, 17 miles from the villages of Iliamna and Newhalen, and approximately 200 miles southwest of the city of Anchorage. The company was formerly known as Northern Dynasty Explorations Ltd. and changed its name to Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. in October 1997. Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Vista Gold

Vista Gold Corp., together with its subsidiaries, acquires, explores, evaluates, and advances gold exploration and development projects in Australia. Its flagship asset is the 100% owned Mt Todd gold project located in Northern Territory, Australia. The company was incorporated in 1983 and is based in Englewood, Colorado.