Contrasting Allied Gold (NYSE:AAUC) & Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU)

Allied Gold (NYSE:AAUC) and Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Allied Gold and Centerra Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Allied Gold	$730.38 million	5.33	-$115.63 million	($0.36)	-86.61
Centerra Gold	$1.21 billion	2.85	$80.39 million	$1.64	10.57

Centerra Gold has higher revenue and earnings than Allied Gold. Allied Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Centerra Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.4% of Centerra Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Centerra Gold shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Allied Gold and Centerra Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Allied Gold	-3.58%	24.32%	7.40%
Centerra Gold	26.35%	10.47%	7.60%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Allied Gold and Centerra Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Allied Gold	1	2	0	1	2.25
Centerra Gold	0	3	6	2	2.91

Centerra Gold has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.67%. Given Centerra Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Centerra Gold is more favorable than Allied Gold.

Summary

Centerra Gold beats Allied Gold on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Allied Gold

Allied Gold Corporation is a gold producer. It operates a portfolio of producing assets and development projects located principally in Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Ethiopia. Allied Gold Corporation is based in Canada.

About Centerra Gold

Centerra Gold Inc., a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold and copper properties in North America, Turkey, and internationally. The company explores for gold, copper, and molybdenum deposits. Its flagship projects are the 100% owned Mount Milligan gold-copper mine located in British Columbia, Canada; and the Öksüt gold mine located in Turkey. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Toronto, Canada.