Analyzing NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) and Pacific Booker Minerals (OTCMKTS:PBMLF)

NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) and Pacific Booker Minerals (OTCMKTS:PBMLF) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for NioCorp Developments and Pacific Booker Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NioCorp Developments	0	0	2	0	3.00
Pacific Booker Minerals	0	0	0	0	0.00

NioCorp Developments presently has a consensus target price of $3.63, indicating a potential upside of 57.61%. Given NioCorp Developments’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe NioCorp Developments is more favorable than Pacific Booker Minerals.

Risk and Volatility

NioCorp Developments has a beta of -0.32, suggesting that its stock price is 132% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific Booker Minerals has a beta of -0.1, suggesting that its stock price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NioCorp Developments and Pacific Booker Minerals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NioCorp Developments	N/A	N/A	-$11.44 million	($0.77)	-2.99
Pacific Booker Minerals	N/A	N/A	-$390,000.00	($0.03)	-21.67

Pacific Booker Minerals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NioCorp Developments, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares NioCorp Developments and Pacific Booker Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NioCorp Developments	N/A	-1,273.17%	-140.97%
Pacific Booker Minerals	N/A	-386.41%	-81.34%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.0% of NioCorp Developments shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.1% of NioCorp Developments shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.3% of Pacific Booker Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Pacific Booker Minerals beats NioCorp Developments on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NioCorp Developments

NioCorp Developments Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of mineral deposits in North America. It owns and develops the Elk Creek niobium/scandium/titanium project that owns one 226.43-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights, and an additional 40 acres of mineral rights, as well as an optioned land package that covers an area of 1,396 acres located in Johnson County, southeast Nebraska. The company was formerly known as Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. and changed its name to NioCorp Developments Ltd. in March 2013. NioCorp Developments Ltd. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado.

About Pacific Booker Minerals

Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. engages in the exploration of mineral properties in Canada. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, and molybdenum deposits. It holds interests in the Morrison property located in British Columbia. The company was formerly known as Booker Gold Explorations Limited and changed its name to Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. in February 2000. Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.