Head to Head Comparison: International Tower Hill Mines (NYSE:THM) & Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and International Tower Hill Mines (NYSE:THM) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, International Tower Hill Mines has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and International Tower Hill Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-1.37%	-1.08%
International Tower Hill Mines	N/A	-5.82%	-5.80%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.6% of International Tower Hill Mines shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of International Tower Hill Mines shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and International Tower Hill Mines, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	2	3	1	2.83
International Tower Hill Mines	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lithium Americas (Argentina) currently has a consensus target price of $7.42, suggesting a potential upside of 280.34%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than International Tower Hill Mines.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and International Tower Hill Mines”s top-line revenue, earnings per share 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	$7.79	0.25
International Tower Hill Mines	N/A	N/A	-$3.40 million	($0.01)	-67.00

International Tower Hill Mines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lithium Americas (Argentina), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats International Tower Hill Mines on 11 of the 12 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 International Tower Hill Mines

International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. is a Canada-based resource exploration company possessing a portfolio of Alaskan and Nevada based gold and base metal exploration projects. The Company is currently focused on the Livengood Gold Project located in the north of Fairbanks, Alaska. International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.