Contrasting Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) & ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT)

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) and ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Iamgold and ArcelorMittal, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iamgold	1	2	6	1	2.70
ArcelorMittal	0	7	8	0	2.53

Iamgold currently has a consensus price target of $22.71, indicating a potential upside of 21.32%. ArcelorMittal has a consensus price target of $74.55, indicating a potential upside of 22.15%. Given ArcelorMittal’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ArcelorMittal is more favorable than Iamgold.

Risk and Volatility

Iamgold has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ArcelorMittal has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Iamgold and ArcelorMittal”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iamgold	$2.85 billion	3.72	$664.40 million	$1.98	9.46
ArcelorMittal	$61.35 billion	0.77	$3.15 billion	$2.36	25.86

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

Profitability

This table compares Iamgold and ArcelorMittal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iamgold	34.29%	29.18%	21.50%
ArcelorMittal	1.64%	4.87%	2.82%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.1% of Iamgold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.3% of ArcelorMittal shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Iamgold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of ArcelorMittal shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Iamgold beats ArcelorMittal on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Iamgold

IAMGOLD Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an intermediate gold producer and developer in Canada and Burkina Faso. It owns 100% interest in the Westwood project that covers an area of 1,925 hectare and located in Quebec; a 60% interest in the Côté gold project, which covers an area of 596 square kilometer located in Ontario, Canada; and a 90% interests in the Essakane project that covers an area of 274,000 square kilometer situated in Burkina Faso. IAMGOLD Corporation was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes. The company also provides mining products, such as iron ore lumps, fines, concentrates, pellets, and sinter feeds; and coking coal. It sells its products to various customers in the automotive, appliance, engineering, construction, energy, and machinery industries through a centralized marketing organization, as well as distributors. The company has iron ore mining activities in Brazil, Bosnia, Canada, Liberia, Mexico, South Africa, and Ukraine. ArcelorMittal S.A. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.