Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) versus MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Head to Head Contrast

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) and Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for MP Materials and Ivanhoe Mines, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MP Materials	1	0	16	2	3.00
Ivanhoe Mines	0	4	3	1	2.62

MP Materials currently has a consensus price target of $79.42, indicating a potential upside of 92.48%. Ivanhoe Mines has a consensus price target of $15.20, indicating a potential upside of 101.86%. Given Ivanhoe Mines’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ivanhoe Mines is more favorable than MP Materials.

Profitability

This table compares MP Materials and Ivanhoe Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MP Materials	-28.00%	-2.27%	-1.13%
Ivanhoe Mines	24.86%	5.14%	3.87%

Volatility and Risk

MP Materials has a beta of 1.86, meaning that its share price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ivanhoe Mines has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.5% of MP Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of MP Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MP Materials and Ivanhoe Mines”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MP Materials	$254.28 million	28.89	-$85.87 million	($0.42)	-98.25
Ivanhoe Mines	$441.61 million	24.32	$261.55 million	$0.09	83.67

Ivanhoe Mines has higher revenue and earnings than MP Materials. MP Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ivanhoe Mines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ivanhoe Mines beats MP Materials on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the mining, development, and exploration of minerals and precious metals primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. It also holds a 100% interest in the Western Foreland exploration project covering an area of approximately 2,407 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company was formerly known as Ivanplats Limited and changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. in August 2013. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.