Critical Analysis: HudBay Minerals (NYSE:HBM) and Select Sands (OTCMKTS:SLSDF)

HudBay Minerals (NYSE:HBM) and Select Sands (OTCMKTS:SLSDF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

HudBay Minerals has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Select Sands has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for HudBay Minerals and Select Sands, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HudBay Minerals	0	2	12	2	3.00
Select Sands	0	0	0	0	0.00

HudBay Minerals currently has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.91%. Given HudBay Minerals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe HudBay Minerals is more favorable than Select Sands.

Profitability

This table compares HudBay Minerals and Select Sands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HudBay Minerals	25.71%	8.91%	4.56%
Select Sands	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.8% of HudBay Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of HudBay Minerals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HudBay Minerals and Select Sands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HudBay Minerals	$2.21 billion	3.99	$568.50 million	$1.43	15.55
Select Sands	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.04)	N/A

HudBay Minerals has higher revenue and earnings than Select Sands. Select Sands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HudBay Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

HudBay Minerals beats Select Sands on 12 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HudBay Minerals

Hudbay Minerals Inc., a diversified mining company, focuses on the exploration, development, operation, and optimization of properties in North and South America. It produces copper concentrates containing gold, silver, and molybdenum; gold concentrates containing zinc; zinc concentrates; molybdenum concentrates; and silver/gold doré. The company's flagship project is the 100% owned Constancia mine located in the Province of Chumbivilcas in southern Peru. Hudbay Minerals Inc. was founded in 1927 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Select Sands

Select Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in quarrying and producing silica sand. The company holds interest in the Sandtown project located in northeast Arkansas, the United States. It sells its products to industrial and energy customers. The company was formerly known as La Ronge Gold Corp. and changed its name to Select Sands Corp. in November 2014. Select Sands Corp. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Houston, Texas.