Comparing Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) & Ternium (NYSE:TX)

Ternium (NYSE:TX) and Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ternium	5.74%	5.77%	3.92%
Ivanhoe Mines	21.53%	5.35%	4.01%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ternium and Ivanhoe Mines, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ternium	0	5	6	0	2.55
Ivanhoe Mines	0	6	2	1	2.44

Ternium presently has a consensus target price of $57.17, suggesting a potential upside of 16.21%. Ivanhoe Mines has a consensus target price of $15.20, suggesting a potential upside of 159.39%. Given Ivanhoe Mines’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ivanhoe Mines is more favorable than Ternium.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.0% of Ternium shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Ternium shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ternium and Ivanhoe Mines”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ternium	$15.61 billion	0.63	$425.23 million	$4.88	10.08
Ivanhoe Mines	$441.61 million	18.93	$261.55 million	$0.11	53.27

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

Volatility and Risk

Ternium has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ivanhoe Mines has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

About Ternium

Ternium S.A., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes steel products in Mexico, Southern Region, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel, Mining, and Usiminas. The Steel segment offers slabs, hot and cold rolled products, coated products, roll formed and tubular products, bars, billets, and other products. Its Mining segment sells iron ore and pellets. The Usiminas segment offers iron ore extraction, steel transformation, and production of capital goods and logistics; and manufactures and sells various products and raw materials, such as flat steel, iron ore, and stamped steel parts for the automotive industry and products for the civil construction and capital goods industry. It also provides medical and social; scrap; renewable energy; and engineering and other services, as well as operates as a distribution company. In addition, the company engages in the exploration, exploitation, and pelletizing of iron ore. Ternium S.A. was founded in 1961 and is based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Ternium S.A. is a subsidiary of Techint Holdings S.à r.l.

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.