Analyzing Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) & Centamin (OTCMKTS:CELTF)

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

Volatility & Risk

Centamin has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Centamin	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-1.37%	-1.08%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Centamin	$891.26 million	2.45	$92.28 million	N/A	N/A
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.79	0.25

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Centamin and Lithium Americas (Argentina), as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Centamin	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	0	2	1	3.33

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a consensus price target of $4.25, suggesting a potential upside of 122.51%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Centamin.

Summary

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

About Centamin

Centamin plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, mining, and development of gold and precious metals in Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Jersey, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Its principal asset is the Sukari Gold Mine project, which covers an area of approximately 160 square kilometers located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Saint Helier, Jersey.

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.