Western Copper & Gold (NYSE:WRN) vs. Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) Head to Head Contrast

Western Copper & Gold (NYSE:WRN) and Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Western Copper & Gold and Lithium Americas (Argentina), as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Copper & Gold	0	0	1	1	3.50
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	3	1	2.63

Western Copper & Gold presently has a consensus target price of $4.25, suggesting a potential upside of 289.91%. Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a consensus target price of $7.05, suggesting a potential upside of 111.71%. Given Western Copper & Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Western Copper & Gold is more favorable than Lithium Americas (Argentina).

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Western Copper & Gold and Lithium Americas (Argentina)”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Copper & Gold	N/A	N/A	-$2.47 million	($0.02)	-54.50
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.79	0.43

Western Copper & Gold 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.

Volatility and Risk

Western Copper & Gold has a beta of 1.84, suggesting that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Western Copper & Gold and Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Copper & Gold	N/A	-3.53%	-3.45%
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-1.37%	-1.08%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

22.0% of Western Copper & Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Western Copper & Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Western Copper & Gold on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western Copper & Gold

Western Copper and Gold Corporation, an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Canada. The company explores for gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum deposits. Its principal property is the Casino mineral property that comprise 1,136 full and partial quartz claims, and 55 placer claims located in Yukon, Canada. The company was formerly known as Western Copper Corporation and changed its name to Western Copper and Gold Corporation in October 2011. Western Copper and Gold Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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.