Comparing Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) and i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX)

i-80 Gold (NYSE:IAUX) and Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

i-80 Gold has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheaton Precious Metals has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares i-80 Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
i-80 Gold	-231.43%	-21.18%	-12.67%
Wheaton Precious Metals	50.05%	8.85%	8.74%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares i-80 Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
i-80 Gold	$52.94 million	5.09	-$65.20 million	($0.36)	-1.69
Wheaton Precious Metals	$1.28 billion	27.14	$537.64 million	$1.16	66.26

Wheaton Precious Metals has higher revenue and earnings than i-80 Gold. i-80 Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wheaton Precious Metals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.3% of i-80 Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are held by institutional investors. 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for i-80 Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
i-80 Gold	0	2	0	1	2.67
Wheaton Precious Metals	0	0	9	1	3.10

i-80 Gold currently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 474.15%. Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus target price of $72.44, indicating a potential downside of 5.75%. Given i-80 Gold’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe i-80 Gold is more favorable than Wheaton Precious Metals.

Summary

Wheaton Precious Metals beats i-80 Gold on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About i-80 Gold

i-80 Gold Corp. is a mining company, engages in the exploration, development and production of gold and silver mineral deposits principally in the United States. i-80 Gold Corp. is based in Reno, Nevada.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.