Critical Review: First Colombia Gold (OTCMKTS:FCGD) and American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC)

First Colombia Gold (OTCMKTS:FCGD) and American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares First Colombia Gold and American Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Colombia Gold	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Resources	-27,532.48%	N/A	-8.48%

Risk and Volatility

First Colombia Gold has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Resources has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Colombia Gold and American Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Colombia Gold	0	0	0	0	0.00
American Resources	0	1	4	0	2.80

American Resources has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 148.45%. Given American Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe American Resources is more favorable than First Colombia Gold.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

9.3% of American Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of First Colombia Gold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of American Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Colombia Gold and American Resources”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Colombia Gold	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Resources	$380,000.00	679.82	$55.41 million	($0.41)	-5.89

American Resources has higher revenue and earnings than First Colombia Gold.

Summary

American Resources beats First Colombia Gold on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Colombia Gold

First Colombia Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas properties. The company operates through Energy and Mining divisions. It holds interests in 96 oil wells with a gross acreage of 4,302 acres in the counties of Cumberland, Monroe, Overton, and Clinton. The company is also involved in the precious minerals exploration business. It owns 2 unpatented mining claims in the Skip Silver prospect covering an area of approximately 40 acres in central Montana. The company was formerly known as Amazon Goldsands Ltd. and changed its name to First Colombia Gold Corp. in November 2010. First Colombia Gold Corp. was founded in 1997 and is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

About American Resources

American Resources Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, extracts, processes, transports, and sells metallurgical coal to the steel and industrial industries. It supplies raw materials; and sells coal used in pulverized coal injections. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Fishers, Indiana.