Critical Review: Metallus (NYSE:MTUS) and First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Metallus (NYSE:MTUS) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares First Majestic Silver and Metallus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Majestic Silver	21.18%	13.36%	9.20%
Metallus	0.66%	3.35%	2.02%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for First Majestic Silver and Metallus, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Majestic Silver	0	3	5	1	2.78
Metallus	0	3	0	0	2.00

First Majestic Silver presently has a consensus target price of $23.83, suggesting a potential upside of 17.31%. Given First Majestic Silver’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Majestic Silver is more favorable than Metallus.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Majestic Silver and Metallus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Majestic Silver	$1.26 billion	7.97	$164.92 million	$0.71	28.61
Metallus	$1.16 billion	0.68	-$1.20 million	$0.19	100.61

First Majestic Silver has higher revenue and earnings than Metallus. First Majestic Silver is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Metallus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

First Majestic Silver has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Metallus has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

27.2% of First Majestic Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of Metallus shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Majestic Silver shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Metallus shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Majestic Silver beats Metallus on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Majestic Silver

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties with a focus on silver and gold production in North America. Its projects include the San Dimas mine covering an area of approximately 71,867 hectares located in Durango State, Mexico; the Santa Elena that covers an area of approximately 102,244 hectares located in Sonora State, México; and the La Encantada covering an area of approximately 4,076 hectares located in Coahuila State, México. The company was formerly known as First Majestic Resource Corp. and changed its name to First Majestic Silver Corp. in November 2006. First Majestic Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Metallus

Metallus Inc. manufactures and sells alloy steel, and carbon and micro-alloy steel products in the United States and internationally. The company offers special bar quality (SBQ) bars, seamless mechanical tubes, precision steel components, and billets that are used in gears, hubs, axles, crankshafts and motor shafts, oil country drill pipes, bits and collars, bearing races and rolling elements, bushings, fuel injectors, wind energy shafts, anti-friction bearings, artillery and mortar bodies, and other applications. It also provides custom-make precision steel components. It offers its products and services to the automotive, energy, industrial equipment, mining, construction, rail, aerospace and defense, heavy truck, agriculture, and power generation sectors. The company was formerly known as TimkenSteel Corporation and changed its name to Metallus Inc. in February 2024. Metallus Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Canton, Ohio.