Head to Head Contrast: Platinum Group Metals (NYSE:PLG) & Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI)

Platinum Group Metals (NYSE:PLG) and Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Platinum Group Metals has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gold Fields has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Platinum Group Metals and Gold Fields”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Platinum Group Metals	N/A	N/A	-$4.61 million	($0.06)	-22.83
Gold Fields	$4.50 billion	3.82	$703.30 million	N/A	N/A

Gold Fields has higher revenue and earnings than Platinum Group Metals.

Profitability

This table compares Platinum Group Metals and Gold Fields’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Platinum Group Metals	N/A	-10.13%	-9.69%
Gold Fields	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Platinum Group Metals and Gold Fields, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Platinum Group Metals	0	0	0	0	0.00
Gold Fields	0	4	2	0	2.33

Gold Fields has a consensus target price of $16.45, suggesting a potential downside of 14.37%. Given Gold Fields’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Gold Fields is more favorable than Platinum Group Metals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

16.3% of Platinum Group Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.8% of Gold Fields shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Platinum Group Metals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.8% of Gold Fields shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gold Fields beats Platinum Group Metals on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Platinum Group Metals

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of platinum and palladium properties. It explores for palladium, platinum, gold, copper, nickel, and rhodium deposits. The company holds 50.02% interest in the Waterberg project located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa. It also develops next-generation battery technology using platinum and palladium. Platinum Group Metals Ltd. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.