Head-To-Head Comparison: Avino Silver & Gold Mines (NYSE:ASM) & Polymet Mining (NYSE:PLM)

Polymet Mining (NYSE:PLM) and Avino Silver & Gold Mines (NYSE:ASM) are both mining companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Polymet Mining and Avino Silver & Gold Mines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Polymet Mining	0	0	0	0	0.00
Avino Silver & Gold Mines	0	0	3	0	3.00

Avino Silver & Gold Mines has a consensus target price of $1.93, indicating a potential upside of 87.70%. Given Avino Silver & Gold Mines’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Avino Silver & Gold Mines is more favorable than Polymet Mining.

Profitability

This table compares Polymet Mining and Avino Silver & Gold Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Polymet Mining	N/A	N/A	N/A
Avino Silver & Gold Mines	6.57%	12.29%	10.26%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Polymet Mining and Avino Silver & Gold Mines”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Polymet Mining	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Avino Silver & Gold Mines	$43.89 million	3.30	$540,000.00	$0.02	51.53

Avino Silver & Gold Mines has higher revenue and earnings than Polymet Mining.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.1% of Avino Silver & Gold Mines shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Avino Silver & Gold Mines shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Avino Silver & Gold Mines beats Polymet Mining on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Polymet Mining

PolyMet Mining Corp., through its subsidiary, Poly Met Mining, Inc., engages in the exploration and development of natural resource properties. Its primary mineral property is the NorthMet project, a polymetallic project that hosts copper, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, and platinum group metal mineralization covering an area of approximately 4,300 acres located in northeastern Minnesota, the United States. The company was formerly known as Fleck Resources Ltd. and changed its name to PolyMet Mining Corp. in June 1998. PolyMet Mining Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

About Avino Silver & Gold Mines

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and advancement of mineral properties in Canada. It primarily explores for silver, gold, and copper deposits. The company owns interests in 42 mineral claims and four leased mineral claims, including Avino mine area property comprising four exploration concessions covering 154.4 hectares, 24 exploitation concessions covering 1,284.7 hectares, and one leased exploitation concession covering 98.83 hectares; Gomez Palacio property consists of nine exploration concessions covering 2,549 hectares; and Unification La Platosa properties, which include three leased concessions located in the state of Durango, Mexico. It also owns 100% interests in the Minto and Olympic-Kelvin properties located in British Columbia, Canada; and 14 quartz leases in Eagle property located in the Mayo Mining Division of Yukon, Canada. The company was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.