Comparing Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) & Materion (NYSE:MTRN)

Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) and Materion (NYSE:MTRN) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Hycroft Mining has a beta of 2.58, suggesting that its share price is 158% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Materion has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Hycroft Mining and Materion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hycroft Mining	N/A	N/A	-27.55%
Materion	4.19%	12.36%	6.41%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Hycroft Mining and Materion, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hycroft Mining	1	0	0	0	1.00
Materion	0	2	1	0	2.33

Materion has a consensus price target of $170.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.63%. Given Materion’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Materion is more favorable than Hycroft Mining.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hycroft Mining and Materion”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hycroft Mining	N/A	N/A	-$60.90 million	($1.62)	-31.09
Materion	$1.79 billion	1.89	$74.82 million	$3.59	45.26

Materion has higher revenue and earnings than Hycroft Mining. Hycroft Mining is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Materion, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.4% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Materion shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Materion shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Materion beats Hycroft Mining on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hycroft Mining

Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a gold and silver development company in the United States. The company holds interests in the Hycroft mine that consists of 30 private parcels with patented claims comprising approximately 1,787 acres, and 3,247 unpatented mining claims that encompass approximately 62,298 acres located in the state of Nevada. Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation is based in Winnemucca, Nevada.

About Materion

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other. The company provides advanced engineered solutions comprising beryllium and non-beryllium containing alloy systems and custom engineered parts in strip, bulk, rod, plate, bar, tube, and other customized shapes; engineering and product development services; alloyed metals, beryllium products, and beryllium hydroxide; precision strip, rod, and wire products, as well as engineered strip metal products; and ToughMet alloys and SupremEX aluminum silicon carbide metal matrix composite formulation products. It operates the bertrandite ore mine and refinery located in Utah that provides feedstock hydroxide for its beryllium businesses and external sale. In addition, it produces advanced chemicals, microelectronics packaging, precious metal, non-precious metal, and specialty metal products, including vapor deposition targets, frame lid assemblies, clad and precious metal pre-forms, high temperature braze materials, and ultra-pure wire. Further, the company designs and produces precision thin film coatings, optical filters, and assemblies. The company sells its products directly from its facilities, as well as through company-owned service centers, outside distributors, agents, direct sales offices, and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Brush Engineered Materials Inc. and changed its name to Materion Corporation in March 2011. Materion Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.