loanDepot (NYSE:LDI – Get Free Report) and Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
39.4% of loanDepot shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.4% of Argo Blockchain shares are owned by institutional investors. 83.0% of loanDepot shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk and Volatility
loanDepot has a beta of 3.46, indicating that its stock price is 246% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Argo Blockchain has a beta of 1.88, indicating that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| loanDepot | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.67 |
| Argo Blockchain | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
loanDepot presently has a consensus target price of $2.60, indicating a potential upside of 7.88%. Argo Blockchain has a consensus target price of $1.45, indicating a potential upside of 28.32%. Given Argo Blockchain’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Argo Blockchain is more favorable than loanDepot.
Profitability
This table compares loanDepot and Argo Blockchain’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| loanDepot | -8.95% | -14.66% | -1.49% |
| Argo Blockchain | -92.08% | -4,172.69% | -59.43% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares loanDepot and Argo Blockchain”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| loanDepot | $974.02 million | 0.81 | -$110.14 million | ($0.52) | -4.63 |
| Argo Blockchain | $50.56 million | 1.42 | -$35.03 million | ($0.72) | -1.57 |
Argo Blockchain has lower revenue, but higher earnings than loanDepot. loanDepot is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Argo Blockchain, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
loanDepot beats Argo Blockchain on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About loanDepot
loanDepot, Inc. engages in originating, financing, selling, and servicing residential mortgage loans in the United States. The company offers conventional agency-conforming and prime jumbo, federal assistance residential mortgage, and home equity loans. It also provides settlement services, which include captive title and escrow business; real estate services that cover captive real estate referral business; and insurance services, including services to homeowners, as well as other consumer insurance policies. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
About Argo Blockchain
Argo Blockchain plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mining business worldwide. It engages in mining purpose-built computers for complex cryptographic algorithms. The company was formerly known as GoSun Blockchain Limited and changed its name to Argo Blockchain plc in December 2017. Argo Blockchain plc was incorporated in 2017 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
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