Critical Analysis: Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) and Sibanye Stillwater (NYSE:SBSW)

Sibanye Stillwater (NYSE:SBSW) and Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Sibanye Stillwater and Hycroft Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sibanye Stillwater	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hycroft Mining	N/A	-1,270.82%	-33.90%

Volatility & Risk

Sibanye Stillwater has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hycroft Mining has a beta of 2.03, indicating that its share price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

34.9% of Sibanye Stillwater shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.4% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Sibanye Stillwater shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sibanye Stillwater and Hycroft Mining”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sibanye Stillwater	$108.32 billion	0.03	-$2.05 billion	N/A	N/A
Hycroft Mining	$33.23 million	1.69	-$55.02 million	N/A	N/A

Hycroft Mining has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sibanye Stillwater.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Sibanye Stillwater and Hycroft Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sibanye Stillwater	1	3	0	0	1.75
Hycroft Mining	0	0	0	0	N/A

Sibanye Stillwater presently has a consensus price target of $5.17, indicating a potential upside of 26.95%. Given Sibanye Stillwater’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Sibanye Stillwater is more favorable than Hycroft Mining.

Summary

Sibanye Stillwater beats Hycroft Mining on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sibanye Stillwater

Sibanye Stillwater Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals mining company in South Africa, the United States, Europe, and Australia. The company produces gold; platinum group metals (PGMs), including palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium; chrome; nickel; and silver, cobalt, and copper. It owns the East Boulder and Stillwater mines located in Montana, the United States; and Columbus metallurgical complex, which smelts the material mined to produce PGM-rich filter cake, as well as conducts PGM recycling activities. The company also involved in the Kroondal, Rustenburg, Marikana, and Platinum Mile operations situated in South Africa; Mimosa located on the southern portion in Zimbabwe; the Driefontein, Kloof, Rand Refinery, and Cooke surface operations located on the West Rand of the Witwatersrand Basin; and the Beatrix situated in the southern Free State. In addition, it owns an interest in surface tailings retreatment facilities; the Marathon PGM project in Ontario, Canada; the Altar and Rio Grande copper gold projects in the Andes in north-west Argentina; the Hoedspruit; and the Burnstone and southern Free State gold projects in South Africa. Sibanye Stillwater Limited was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Weltevreden Park, South Africa.

About Hycroft Mining

Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a gold and silver development company in the United States. The company holds interests in the Hycroft mine that consists of 30 private parcels with patented claims comprising approximately 1,787 acres, and 3,247 unpatented mining claims that encompass approximately 62,298 acres located in the state of Nevada. Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation is based in Winnemucca, Nevada.