Vista Gold (NYSE:VGZ) versus Northern Dynasty Minerals (NASDAQ:NAK) Financial Review

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Northern Dynasty Minerals and Vista Gold, as reported 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 target price of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 36.61%. Vista Gold has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 35.44%. Given Northern Dynasty Minerals’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Northern Dynasty Minerals is more favorable than Vista Gold.

Institutional and Insider 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

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%

Volatility and Risk

Northern Dynasty Minerals has a beta of 0.08, indicating that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vista Gold has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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)	-15.25
Vista Gold	N/A	N/A	-$6.59 million	($0.07)	-31.64

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.

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.