Comparing US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) and Barrick Mining (NYSE:B)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Barrick Mining and US Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barrick Mining	0	4	11	2	2.88
US Gold	1	0	3	1	2.80

Barrick Mining currently has a consensus price target of $42.90, indicating a potential upside of 22.78%. US Gold has a consensus price target of $17.33, indicating a potential upside of 10.83%. Given Barrick Mining’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Barrick Mining is more favorable than US Gold.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barrick Mining	19.99%	8.19%	5.73%
US Gold	N/A	-73.81%	-50.64%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Barrick Mining and US Gold”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barrick Mining	$13.82 billion	4.26	$2.14 billion	$1.59	21.97
US Gold	N/A	N/A	-$20.56 million	($1.53)	-10.22

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.8% of Barrick Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.6% of US Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Barrick Mining 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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Barrick Mining has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, US Gold has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Barrick Mining beats US Gold on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barrick Mining

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer.  Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.
 
In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick. Nevada Gold Mines is the world’s largest gold mining complex.  Barrick owns and operates six Tier One gold mines:  Cortez, Carlin and Turquoise Ridge in Nevada, Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali, Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic.
 
It has gold and copper mines and projects in 13 countries in North and South America, Africa, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia. Barrick’s diversified portfolio spans the world’s most prolific gold districts and is focused on high-margin, long life assets.

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.