Contrasting Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) & Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN)

Golden Minerals (NYSE:AUMN) and Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) 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, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Golden Minerals and Gold Fields”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golden Minerals	$300,000.00	4.77	-$9.23 million	($0.52)	-0.18
Gold Fields	$4.36 billion	3.92	$703.30 million	$2.35	8.13

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.4% of Golden Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.8% of Gold Fields shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Golden Minerals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 36.8% of Gold Fields shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Golden Minerals and Gold Fields’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Golden Minerals	N/A	-1,051.75%	-57.22%
Gold Fields	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Golden Minerals and Gold Fields, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Golden Minerals	0	0	1	0	3.00
Gold Fields	0	4	2	0	2.33

Golden Minerals presently has a consensus price target of $1.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1,478.95%. Gold Fields has a consensus price target of $17.20, suggesting a potential downside of 9.99%. Given Golden Minerals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Golden Minerals is more favorable than Gold Fields.

Volatility and Risk

Golden Minerals has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gold Fields has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Gold Fields beats Golden Minerals on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Golden Minerals

Golden Minerals Company, a precious metals exploration company explores for mineral properties in Argentina, Nevada, and Mexico. It explores for gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and other minerals. The company was formerly known as Apex Silver Mines Limited and changed its name to Golden Minerals Company in March 2009. Golden Minerals Company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Golden, Colorado.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.