Head to Head Comparison: Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) versus Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF)

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) and Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pan American Silver and Ivanhoe Mines”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pan American Silver	$3.62 billion	5.09	$978.00 million	$3.31	13.45
Ivanhoe Mines	$441.61 million	25.45	$261.55 million	$0.09	87.56

Pan American Silver has higher revenue and earnings than Ivanhoe Mines. Pan American Silver is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ivanhoe Mines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Pan American Silver and Ivanhoe Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pan American Silver	32.04%	20.01%	14.48%
Ivanhoe Mines	23.47%	5.07%	3.81%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.4% of Pan American Silver shares are held by institutional investors. 12.9% of Pan American Silver shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Pan American Silver and Ivanhoe Mines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pan American Silver	0	3	7	0	2.70
Ivanhoe Mines	0	4	1	1	2.50

Pan American Silver presently has a consensus target price of $67.71, indicating a potential upside of 52.05%. Ivanhoe Mines has a consensus target price of $15.20, indicating a potential upside of 92.89%. Given Ivanhoe Mines’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ivanhoe Mines is more favorable than Pan American Silver.

Volatility & Risk

Pan American Silver has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ivanhoe Mines has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Pan American Silver beats Ivanhoe Mines on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pan American Silver

Pan American Silver Corp. engages in the exploration, mine development, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation of silver, gold, zinc, lead, and copper mines in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The company was formerly known as Pan American Minerals Corp. and changed its name to Pan American Silver Corp. in April 1995. Pan American Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the mining, development, and exploration of minerals and precious metals primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. It also holds a 100% interest in the Western Foreland exploration project covering an area of approximately 2,407 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company was formerly known as Ivanplats Limited and changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. in August 2013. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.