Financial Survey: B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) & i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

B2Gold has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares B2Gold and i-80 Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
B2Gold	-38.42%	7.53%	5.56%
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for B2Gold and i-80 Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
B2Gold	1	6	1	0	2.00
i-80 Gold	0	3	0	1	2.50

B2Gold presently has a consensus price target of $4.02, suggesting a potential upside of 61.96%. i-80 Gold has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 507.64%. Given i-80 Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than B2Gold.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares B2Gold and i-80 Gold”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
B2Gold	$1.93 billion	1.69	$10.10 million	($0.56)	-4.43
i-80 Gold	$54.91 million	4.30	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.60

B2Gold has higher revenue and earnings than i-80 Gold. B2Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than i-80 Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.4% of B2Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of B2Gold shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

B2Gold beats i-80 Gold on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp. In addition, it has a portfolio of other evaluation and exploration assets in Mali and Finland. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About i-80 Gold

i-80 Gold Corp. is a mining company, engages in the exploration, development and production of gold and silver mineral deposits principally in the United States. i-80 Gold Corp. is based in Reno, Nevada.