Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD – Get Free Report) and Santacruz Silver Mining (NASDAQ:SCZM – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings and valuation.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Steel Dynamics and Santacruz Silver Mining”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Steel Dynamics | $18.18 billion | 1.96 | $1.19 billion | $13.55 | 18.51 |
| Santacruz Silver Mining | $326.38 million | 1.93 | $42.22 million | $0.32 | 21.16 |
Steel Dynamics has higher revenue and earnings than Santacruz Silver Mining. Steel Dynamics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Santacruz Silver Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Steel Dynamics and Santacruz Silver Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Steel Dynamics | 8.82% | 21.57% | 11.61% |
| Santacruz Silver Mining | 9.97% | 21.55% | 9.49% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
82.4% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Steel Dynamics and Santacruz Silver Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Steel Dynamics | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 2.69 |
| Santacruz Silver Mining | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus price target of $275.17, suggesting a potential upside of 9.72%. Santacruz Silver Mining has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.71%. Given Santacruz Silver Mining’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Santacruz Silver Mining is more favorable than Steel Dynamics.
Summary
Steel Dynamics beats Santacruz Silver Mining on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Steel Dynamics
Steel Dynamics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products. This segment also engages in turning, polishing, straightening, chamfering, precision saw-cutting, and heat treating of bar products. Its products are used in construction, automotive, manufacturing, transportation, heavy and agriculture equipment, and pipe and tube markets. The Metals Recycling Operations segment is involved in the ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal processing, transportation, marketing, brokerage, and scrap management services. Its ferrous products include heavy melting steel, busheling, bundled scrap, shredded scrap, steel turnings, and cast-iron products; and nonferrous products comprise aluminum, brass, copper, stainless steel, and other nonferrous metals. The Steel Fabrication Operations segment produces steel non-residential building components, such as steel joists, girders, trusses, and steel deck products for non-residential steel fabricators, metal building companies, general construction contractors, developers, owners, brokers, and governmental entities, as well as e-commerce warehouses, data centers, metal buildings, and education and commercial building projects. The Aluminum Operations segment offers recycled aluminum flat rolled products. The company also exports its products. Steel Dynamics, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
About Santacruz Silver Mining
Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of mineral properties in Mexico. The company primarily explores for silver, as well as for gold, zinc, lead, and copper deposits. It primarily holds a 100% interest in the Rosario project located in the municipality of Charcas in the state of San Luis Potosi; and Veta Grande project that include three concession groups, which consists of 184 mining concessions covering an area of 8,944 hectares in the Zacatecas Mining District, Mexico. The company was formerly known as Forte Resources Inc. and changed its name to Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. in April 2012. Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. Was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.
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