Blackstone Minerals (OTCMKTS:BLSTF) and McEwen (NYSE:MUX) Critical Analysis

Blackstone Minerals (OTCMKTS:BLSTF) and McEwen (NYSE:MUX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Blackstone Minerals and McEwen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blackstone Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A
McEwen	-7.16%	-2.45%	-1.66%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Blackstone Minerals and McEwen”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blackstone Minerals	$40,000.00	446.25	-$11.37 million	N/A	N/A
McEwen	$166.45 million	6.11	-$43.69 million	($0.22)	-84.90

Blackstone Minerals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than McEwen.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.0% of McEwen shares are held by institutional investors. 16.1% of McEwen shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Blackstone Minerals and McEwen, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blackstone Minerals	0	0	0	0	0.00
McEwen	1	0	5	1	2.86

McEwen has a consensus target price of $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.75%. Given McEwen’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe McEwen is more favorable than Blackstone Minerals.

Volatility & Risk

Blackstone Minerals has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, McEwen has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

McEwen beats Blackstone Minerals on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Blackstone Minerals

Blackstone Minerals Limited engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties. The company primarily explores for nickel, cobalt, copper, gold, platinum, manganese, and palladium deposits. It holds a 100% interest in the Gold Bridge project, which covers an area of 367 square kilometers located in the British Columbia, Canada. The company also holds a 90% interest in the Ta Khoa project located in Son La Province, Vietnam. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is based in West Perth, Australia.

About McEwen

McEwen Mining Inc. engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold and silver. It also explores for copper deposits. The company owns 100% interests in the El Gallo and Fenix projects located in Mexico; and the Black Fox Mine and Stock Mill, Grey Fox, and Froome and Tamarack properties in Canada. It also owns interests in the Fuller, Davidson-Tisdale, Buffalo Ankerite, and Paymaster exploration properties located in Canada; and a 49% interest in the San José mine located in Argentina. In addition, the company owns 100% interests in the Gold Bar and Tonkin properties located in Eureka County, Nevada; and interests in the Los Azules copper project located in the cordilleran region in the province of San Juan, Argentina. The company was formerly known as US Gold Corporation and changed its name to McEwen Mining Inc. in January 2012. McEwen Mining Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.