Comparing Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) & Wealth Minerals (OTCMKTS:WMLLF)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and Wealth Minerals (OTCMKTS:WMLLF) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Wealth Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by 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.

Risk and Volatility

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wealth Minerals has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Wealth Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	3	1	2.63
Wealth Minerals	0	0	0	0	N/A

Lithium Americas (Argentina) presently has a consensus target price of $7.05, indicating a potential upside of 93.68%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Wealth Minerals.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Wealth Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-0.25%	-0.20%
Wealth Minerals	N/A	-21.47%	-21.11%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Wealth Minerals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.84	0.46
Wealth Minerals	N/A	N/A	-$7.73 million	($0.04)	-1.58

Wealth Minerals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lithium Americas (Argentina), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Wealth Minerals on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Wealth Minerals

Wealth Minerals Ltd., a junior mineral resource exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for lithium, as well as for precious metal and copper deposits. Its flagship property is the 100% owned Atacama project that comprises 144 exploration concessions covering an area of approximately 46,200 hectares located in the Atacama Salar in Region II of Antofagasta, northern Chile. Wealth Minerals Ltd. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.