Head-To-Head Contrast: Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) versus Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK)

Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) and Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.1% of Endeavour Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Kaiser Aluminum shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Endeavour Silver shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Kaiser Aluminum shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Endeavour Silver and Kaiser Aluminum, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Endeavour Silver	0	3	5	1	2.78
Kaiser Aluminum	1	2	3	0	2.33

Endeavour Silver presently has a consensus target price of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 68.53%. Kaiser Aluminum has a consensus target price of $167.25, indicating a potential upside of 10.02%. Given Endeavour Silver’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Endeavour Silver is more favorable than Kaiser Aluminum.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Endeavour Silver and Kaiser Aluminum”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Endeavour Silver	$432.80 million	5.89	-$119.10 million	$0.21	40.97
Kaiser Aluminum	$3.37 billion	0.74	$112.50 million	$13.49	11.27

Kaiser Aluminum has higher revenue and earnings than Endeavour Silver. Kaiser Aluminum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Endeavour Silver, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Endeavour Silver and Kaiser Aluminum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Endeavour Silver	9.30%	17.46%	8.93%
Kaiser Aluminum	5.49%	24.71%	7.86%

Volatility and Risk

Endeavour Silver has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kaiser Aluminum has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Endeavour Silver beats Kaiser Aluminum on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Endeavour Silver

Endeavour Silver Corp., a silver mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation of mineral properties in Chile and the United States. It explores for gold and silver deposits, and precious metals. The company was formerly known as Endeavour Gold Corp. and changed its name to Endeavour Silver Corp. in September 2004. Endeavour Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Kaiser Aluminum

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products. The company's automotive extrusions include extruded aluminum products for structural components, crash management systems, anti-lock braking systems, and drawn tubes for drive shafts, as well as offers fabrication services, including sawing and cutting to length. Its packaging products consist of bare and coated 3000- and 5000-series alloy aluminum coil used for beverage and food packaging industry. In addition, the company's general engineering products comprise alloy plate, sheet, rod, bar, tube, wire, and standard extrusion shapes used in various applications, including the production of military vehicles, ordnances, semiconductor manufacturing cells, electronic devices, after-market motor sport parts, tooling plates, parts for machinery and equipment, bolts, screws, nails, and rivets. Further, its rerolled, extruded, drawn, and cast billet aluminum products used for industrial end uses. The company sells its products directly to customers through sales personnel located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and China, as well as through independent sales agents in other regions of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Kaiser Aluminum Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.