Critical Contrast: Metals Acquisition (NYSE:MTAL) & Amerigo Resources (OTCMKTS:ARREF)

Metals Acquisition (NYSE:MTAL) and Amerigo Resources (OTCMKTS:ARREF) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Metals Acquisition and Amerigo Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Metals Acquisition	N/A	N/A	N/A
Amerigo Resources	7.16%	11.50%	6.08%

Risk & Volatility

Metals Acquisition has a beta of 0.04, meaning that its share price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amerigo Resources has a beta of 3.07, meaning that its share price is 207% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.5% of Metals Acquisition shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Metals Acquisition shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.3% of Amerigo Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Metals Acquisition and Amerigo Resources’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Metals Acquisition	$159.00 million	3.82	-$144.55 million	N/A	N/A
Amerigo Resources	$157.46 million	1.35	$3.38 million	($0.01)	-128.00

Amerigo Resources has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Metals Acquisition.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Metals Acquisition and Amerigo Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Metals Acquisition	0	1	2	0	2.67
Amerigo Resources	0	0	0	0	N/A

Metals Acquisition presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.07%. Given Metals Acquisition’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Metals Acquisition is more favorable than Amerigo Resources.

Summary

Amerigo Resources beats Metals Acquisition on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Metals Acquisition

Metals Acquisition Limited focuses on mining and production of copper and silver. It operates the CSA copper mine in Cobar, Australia. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Saint Helier, Jersey.

About Amerigo Resources

Amerigo Resources Ltd., through its subsidiary, Minera Valle Central S.A., engages in the production and sale of copper and molybdenum concentrates from Codelco's El Teniente underground mine in Chile. The company was formerly known as Golden Temple Mining Corp. and changed its name to Amerigo Resources Ltd. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.