Head-To-Head Comparison: i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) versus AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for AngloGold Ashanti and i-80 Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AngloGold Ashanti	1	1	4	0	2.50
i-80 Gold	0	3	0	1	2.50

AngloGold Ashanti currently has a consensus target price of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.10%. i-80 Gold has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 404.61%. Given i-80 Gold’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than AngloGold Ashanti.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

36.1% of AngloGold Ashanti shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 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 AngloGold Ashanti and i-80 Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AngloGold Ashanti	$5.79 billion	2.24	$1.00 billion	$3.20	9.65
i-80 Gold	$52.94 million	5.76	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.93

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

Risk & Volatility

AngloGold Ashanti has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AngloGold Ashanti	N/A	N/A	N/A
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%

Summary

AngloGold Ashanti beats i-80 Gold on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania. AngloGold Ashanti plc was incorporated in 1944 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

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.