Analyzing US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) and Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO)

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) and US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Eldorado Gold and US Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eldorado Gold	1	1	4	2	2.88
US Gold	1	1	2	0	2.25

Eldorado Gold currently has a consensus price target of $31.20, suggesting a potential downside of 16.05%. US Gold has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.48%. Given US Gold’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe US Gold is more favorable than Eldorado Gold.

Profitability

This table compares Eldorado Gold and US Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eldorado Gold	22.15%	8.89%	5.80%
US Gold	N/A	-73.41%	-55.36%

Volatility & Risk

Eldorado Gold has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, US Gold has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Eldorado Gold and US Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eldorado Gold	$1.32 billion	5.63	$289.12 million	$1.80	20.65
US Gold	N/A	N/A	-$20.56 million	($1.64)	-13.74

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

69.6% of Eldorado Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.6% of US Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Eldorado Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of US Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Eldorado Gold beats US Gold on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemçukuru mines located in Turkey; Lamaque complex located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania. The company was formerly known as Eldorado Corporation Ltd. and changed its name to Eldorado Gold Corporation in April 1996. Eldorado Gold Corporation was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About US Gold

U.S. Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and development of gold and precious metals in the United States. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company holds 100% interests in the CK Gold project, which consists of various mining leases and other mineral rights covering approximately 1,120 acres in Laramie County, Wyoming; the Keystone project that consists of 601 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 20 square miles in Eureka County, Nevada; and the Challis Gold project, which consists of 77 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 1,710 acres in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also has earn-in agreement to acquire a 50% ownership interest in the Maggie Creek project located in Eureka County, Nevada. The company was formerly known as Dataram Corporation and changed its name to U.S. Gold Corp. in June 2017. U.S. Gold Corp. is based in Elko, Nevada.