Financial Contrast: Nexa Resources (NYSE:NEXA) vs. Iamgold (NYSE:IAG)

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) and Nexa Resources (NYSE:NEXA) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Iamgold and Nexa Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iamgold	0	3	6	2	2.91
Nexa Resources	1	5	1	0	2.00

Iamgold currently has a consensus target price of $22.86, indicating a potential upside of 26.46%. Nexa Resources has a consensus target price of $14.94, indicating a potential upside of 19.10%. Given Iamgold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Iamgold is more favorable than Nexa Resources.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.1% of Iamgold shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Iamgold shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Iamgold and Nexa Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iamgold	31.40%	28.97%	20.87%
Nexa Resources	8.02%	20.25%	5.28%

Risk & Volatility

Iamgold has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nexa Resources has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iamgold	$2.85 billion	3.61	$664.40 million	$1.98	9.13
Nexa Resources	$3.46 billion	0.48	$132.63 million	$2.09	6.00

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

Summary

Iamgold beats Nexa Resources on 13 of the 15 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 Nexa Resources

Nexa Resources S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the zinc mining and smelting business worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Mining and Smelting. It produces zinc, zamac, zinc oxide, and zincal, as well as by-products, such as copper, lead, silver, gold, copper sulfate, sulfuric acid, copper cementum, silver concentrate, slag aggregates, and cadmium/sponge deposits. The company owns and operates six polymetallic mines, including three located in the Central Andes of Peru; two located in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil; and one located in the State of Mato Grosso in Brazil. It also owns and operates three zinc smelters comprising one located in Cajamarquilla in Peru; and two located in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil, which recovers and produces metallic zinc, zinc oxide, and by-products, such as sulfuric acid. The company also exports its products. Its products are used in civil construction, transportation, energy, agriculture, health, and consumer goods industries. The company was formerly known as VM Holding S.A. and changed its name to Nexa Resources S.A. in September 2017. The company was founded in 1956 and is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Nexa Resources S.A. operates as a subsidiary of Votorantim S.A.