Critical Review: Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) versus Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC)

Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI – Get Rating) and Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC – Get Rating) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Gold Fields and Hycroft Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gold Fields	2	3	1	0	1.83
Hycroft Mining	0	1	0	0	2.00

Gold Fields presently has a consensus price target of $13.77, indicating a potential upside of 17.76%. Given Gold Fields’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Gold Fields is more favorable than Hycroft Mining.

Volatility & Risk

Gold Fields has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hycroft Mining has a beta of 1.86, suggesting that its stock price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gold Fields	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hycroft Mining	-100.07%	-4,170.48%	-47.44%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

32.2% of Gold Fields shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.4% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gold Fields and Hycroft Mining’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gold Fields	$4.20 billion	2.48	$789.30 million	N/A	N/A
Hycroft Mining	$110.73 million	2.30	-$88.56 million	($1.58)	-0.82

Gold Fields has higher revenue and earnings than Hycroft Mining.

Summary

Gold Fields beats Hycroft Mining on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

Gold Fields Company Profile (Get Rating)

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, West Africa, Australia, and Peru. The company also explores for copper deposits. It holds interests in 9 operating mines with an annual gold-equivalent production of approximately 2.34 million ounces, as well as gold mineral reserves of approximately 48.6 million ounces and mineral resources of approximately 111.8 million ounces. Gold Fields Limited was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.

Hycroft Mining Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 covers an area of approximately 70,671 acres located in the state of Nevada. As of December 31, 2021, its Hycroft mine had measured and indicated mineral resources of 9.6 million ounces of gold, and 446.0 million ounces of silver. Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation is headquartered in Winnemucca, Nevada.

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