Contrasting Nexa Resources (NYSE:NEXA) and First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Nexa Resources (NYSE:NEXA) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Volatility and 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, Nexa Resources has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

27.2% of First Majestic Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Majestic Silver 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 First Majestic Silver and Nexa Resources’ 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%
Nexa Resources	8.02%	20.25%	5.28%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for First Majestic Silver and Nexa Resources, 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
Nexa Resources	1	6	0	0	1.86

First Majestic Silver currently has a consensus price target of $23.83, suggesting a potential upside of 27.59%. Nexa Resources has a consensus price target of $14.60, suggesting a potential upside of 15.28%. Given First Majestic Silver’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Majestic Silver is more favorable than Nexa Resources.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Majestic Silver and Nexa Resources”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	7.32	$164.92 million	$0.71	26.31
Nexa Resources	$3.00 billion	0.56	$132.63 million	$2.09	6.06

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

Summary

First Majestic Silver beats Nexa Resources on 12 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 Nexa Resources

Nexa Resources S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the zinc mining and smelting business worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Mining and Smelting. It produces zinc, zamac, zinc oxide, and zincal, as well as by-products, such as copper, lead, silver, gold, copper sulfate, sulfuric acid, copper cementum, silver concentrate, slag aggregates, and cadmium/sponge deposits. The company owns and operates six polymetallic mines, including three located in the Central Andes of Peru; two located in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil; and one located in the State of Mato Grosso in Brazil. It also owns and operates three zinc smelters comprising one located in Cajamarquilla in Peru; and two located in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil, which recovers and produces metallic zinc, zinc oxide, and by-products, such as sulfuric acid. The company also exports its products. Its products are used in civil construction, transportation, energy, agriculture, health, and consumer goods industries. The company was formerly known as VM Holding S.A. and changed its name to Nexa Resources S.A. in September 2017. The company was founded in 1956 and is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Nexa Resources S.A. operates as a subsidiary of Votorantim S.A.