US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) & Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) Financial Comparison

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) and US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Iamgold and US Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iamgold	0	3	5	2	2.90
US Gold	1	1	2	0	2.25

Iamgold presently has a consensus target price of $17.25, indicating a potential downside of 5.01%. US Gold has a consensus target price of $26.75, indicating a potential upside of 54.27%. Given US Gold’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe US Gold is more favorable than Iamgold.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

47.1% of Iamgold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.6% of US Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Iamgold shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of US Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Iamgold has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, US Gold has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Iamgold and US Gold”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iamgold	$1.63 billion	6.57	$819.60 million	$0.60	30.27
US Gold	N/A	N/A	-$20.56 million	($1.64)	-10.57

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

Profitability

This table compares Iamgold and US Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iamgold	15.39%	10.39%	6.72%
US Gold	N/A	-73.41%	-55.36%

Summary

Iamgold beats US Gold on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Iamgold

IAMGOLD Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an intermediate gold producer and developer in Canada and Burkina Faso. It owns 100% interest in the Westwood project that covers an area of 1,925 hectare and located in Quebec; a 60% interest in the Côté gold project, which covers an area of 596 square kilometer located in Ontario, Canada; and a 90% interests in the Essakane project that covers an area of 274,000 square kilometer situated in Burkina Faso. IAMGOLD Corporation was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About US Gold

U.S. Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and development of gold and precious metals in the United States. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company holds 100% interests in the CK Gold project, which consists of various mining leases and other mineral rights covering approximately 1,120 acres in Laramie County, Wyoming; the Keystone project that consists of 601 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 20 square miles in Eureka County, Nevada; and the Challis Gold project, which consists of 77 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 1,710 acres in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also has earn-in agreement to acquire a 50% ownership interest in the Maggie Creek project located in Eureka County, Nevada. The company was formerly known as Dataram Corporation and changed its name to U.S. Gold Corp. in June 2017. U.S. Gold Corp. is based in Elko, Nevada.