i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) versus Northern Dynasty Minerals (NASDAQ:NAK) Critical Survey

i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) and Northern Dynasty Minerals (NASDAQ:NAK) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for i-80 Gold and Northern Dynasty Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
i-80 Gold	0	0	3	1	3.25
Northern Dynasty Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00

i-80 Gold presently has a consensus price target of $1.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.11%. Northern Dynasty Minerals has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 20.77%. Given Northern Dynasty Minerals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northern Dynasty Minerals is more favorable than i-80 Gold.

Volatility and Risk

i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northern Dynasty Minerals has a beta of -0.11, suggesting that its share price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.6% of Northern Dynasty Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Northern Dynasty Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares i-80 Gold and Northern Dynasty Minerals’ 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%
Northern Dynasty Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares i-80 Gold and Northern Dynasty Minerals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
i-80 Gold	$97.13 million	10.47	-$65.20 million	($0.24)	-5.29
Northern Dynasty Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.12)	-17.25

Northern Dynasty Minerals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than i-80 Gold. Northern Dynasty Minerals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than i-80 Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

i-80 Gold beats Northern Dynasty Minerals on 7 of the 13 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 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.