Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) versus Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) Head-To-Head Contrast

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) and Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Compass Minerals International and Aura Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Minerals International	2	2	1	0	1.80
Aura Minerals	0	2	5	0	2.71

Compass Minerals International currently has a consensus price target of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.75%. Aura Minerals has a consensus price target of $86.95, indicating a potential upside of 7.04%. Given Compass Minerals International’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Compass Minerals International is more favorable than Aura Minerals.

Profitability

This table compares Compass Minerals International and Aura Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Minerals International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Aura Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Compass Minerals International and Aura Minerals”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Compass Minerals International	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.43	53.32
Aura Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A	$3.54	22.95

Aura Minerals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Compass Minerals International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.8% of Compass Minerals International shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Compass Minerals International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc., provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products. This segment provides products for use as a deicer for roadways, consumer, and professional use; as an ingredient in chemical production; for water treatment, human, and animal nutrition; and for various other consumer and industrial uses, as well as records management services. The Plant Nutrition segment produces sulfate of potash specialty fertilizers in various grades that are used in broadcast spreaders, direct application, and liquid fertilizer solutions under the Protassium+ brand name; turf products used by the turf and ornamental markets, as well as for blends used on golf course greens; organic products; and develops and produces a portfolio of magnesium chloride-based aerial and ground fire retardant products. This segment provides its products to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers. The company was formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation and changed its name to Compass Minerals International, Inc. in December 2003. Compass Minerals International, Inc. was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

About Aura Minerals

We are an Americas gold and copper production company with a significant portfolio of mining operations. Our mission is to deliver long-term value by unlocking operational efficiencies, responsibly growing our portfolio with a focus on return on invested capital, responsible mining practices and a commitment to sustainability. We operate with a decentralized culture, supported by a lean corporate team that ensures agile and dynamic management and decision-making processes, focused on high operational sustainability compliance standards. We believe that our success as a gold and copper mining company is the result of a combination of strategic acquisitions, mine expansions and development and efficiency improvements. Backed by a traditional Brazilian family of seasoned gold-focused entrepreneurs and mine developers, as well as a new management team, we have undergone a significant transformation since 2016, enhancing our profitability, replenishing resources and even extending the life-of-mine (LOM) across our operating assets, while also facilitating inorganic expansion — consistently guided by a disciplined commitment to value creation and sustainable growth. We have a track record of expanding and building new mines on-time and on-budget, with ramp-up capabilities, consistent cash flow generation and dividend payments while delivering an attractive return on investment. Our disciplined cost management ensures efficiency in reserve development while we strive to serve as the benchmark for operational security and excellence in project development. Strategically, we prioritize high-IRR (Internal Rate of Return) growth opportunities, balancing capital appreciation with reliable dividend distributions. We currently operate four wholly-owned operating mines and one mine in ramp-up phase. Our operating mines are the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico, the Apoena and Almas gold mines in Brazil and the Minosa gold mine in Honduras. Additionally, we own and operate the Borborema gold mine in Brazil, which is currently in its ramp-up phase and is expected to achieve commercial production by the third quarter of 2025. In addition to our operating mines, our main development projects are the Era Dorada gold project in Guatemala and the Matupá gold project in Brazil. We have significant exploration potential, owning over 563,558 hectares of mineral rights, and we are currently advancing multiple near-mine and regional targets along with the Carajás (Serra da Estrela) copper project in the prolific Carajás region of Brazil. Our registered office is located the British Virgin Islands.