Head to Head Review: Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and Anglo American (OTCMKTS:NGLOY)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and Anglo American (OTCMKTS:NGLOY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Anglo American”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.99	0.32
Anglo American	$30.65 billion	1.22	$283.00 million	N/A	N/A

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Anglo American.

Volatility and Risk

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Anglo American has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Anglo American shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Anglo American’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-0.25%	-0.20%
Anglo American	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Anglo American, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	4	1	2.67
Anglo American	0	3	3	0	2.50

Lithium Americas (Argentina) currently has a consensus target price of $8.21, suggesting a potential upside of 225.73%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Anglo American.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Anglo American on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Anglo American

Anglo American plc operates as a mining company in the United Kingdom and internationally. It explores for rough and polished diamonds, copper, platinum group metals and nickel, steelmaking coal, and iron ore; and nickel, polyhalite, and manganese ores. Anglo American plc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.