Contrasting Santa Fe Gold (OTCMKTS:SFEG) and NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB)

Santa Fe Gold (OTCMKTS:SFEG) and NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

4.0% of NioCorp Developments shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Santa Fe Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.7% of NioCorp Developments shares are held by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Santa Fe Gold and NioCorp Developments, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Santa Fe Gold	0	0	0	0	0.00
NioCorp Developments	0	0	1	0	3.00

NioCorp Developments has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 548.85%. Given NioCorp Developments’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NioCorp Developments is more favorable than Santa Fe Gold.

Profitability

This table compares Santa Fe Gold and NioCorp Developments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Santa Fe Gold	N/A	N/A	N/A
NioCorp Developments	N/A	-8,973.12%	-206.20%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Santa Fe Gold and NioCorp Developments”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Santa Fe Gold	N/A	N/A	-$2.33 million	N/A	N/A
NioCorp Developments	N/A	N/A	-$11.44 million	($0.85)	-1.54

Summary

NioCorp Developments beats Santa Fe Gold on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Santa Fe Gold

Santa Fe Gold Corporation, a mining company, acquires, explores, develops, and produces mineral properties in the United States. The company primarily explores for precious metals, gold, and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

About NioCorp Developments

NioCorp Developments Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of mineral deposits in North America. It owns and develops the Elk Creek niobium/scandium/titanium project that owns one 226.43-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights, and an additional 40 acres of mineral rights, as well as an optioned land package that covers an area of 1,396 acres located in Johnson County, southeast Nebraska. The company was formerly known as Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. and changed its name to NioCorp Developments Ltd. in March 2013. NioCorp Developments Ltd. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado.