Head to Head Survey: New Gold (NYSE:NGD) versus U.S. Gold (NASDAQ:USAU)

U.S. Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) and New Gold (NYSE:NGD) 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, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares U.S. Gold and New Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Gold	N/A	-59.61%	-42.24%
New Gold	11.10%	13.70%	6.31%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.6% of U.S. Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of New Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of U.S. Gold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of New Gold shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares U.S. Gold and New Gold”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U.S. Gold	N/A	N/A	-$6.90 million	($1.36)	-5.99
New Gold	$924.50 million	2.56	-$64.50 million	$0.13	23.00

U.S. Gold has higher earnings, but lower revenue than New Gold. U.S. Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for U.S. Gold and New Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Gold	0	0	2	1	3.33
New Gold	0	2	6	2	3.00

U.S. Gold presently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 41.28%. New Gold has a consensus price target of $3.74, indicating a potential upside of 25.18%. Given U.S. Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe U.S. Gold is more favorable than New Gold.

Risk & Volatility

U.S. Gold has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, New Gold has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

New Gold beats U.S. Gold on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U.S. Gold

U.S. Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and development of gold and precious metals in the United States. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company holds 100% interests in the CK Gold project, which consists of various mining leases and other mineral rights covering approximately 1,120 acres in Laramie County, Wyoming; the Keystone project that consists of 601 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 20 square miles in Eureka County, Nevada; and the Challis Gold project, which consists of 77 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 1,710 acres in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also has earn-in agreement to acquire a 50% ownership interest in the Maggie Creek project located in Eureka County, Nevada. The company was formerly known as Dataram Corporation and changed its name to U.S. Gold Corp. in June 2017. U.S. Gold Corp. is based in Elko, Nevada.

About New Gold

New Gold Inc., an intermediate gold mining company, develops and operates of mineral properties in Canada. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and copper deposits. The company’s principal operating properties include 100% interest in the Rainy River mine located in Northwestern Ontario, Canada; and New Afton project situated in South-Central British Columbia. New Gold Inc. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.