Analyzing Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) & Iamgold (NYSE:IAG)

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) and Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Iamgold and Cleveland-Cliffs, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iamgold	0	3	5	2	2.90
Cleveland-Cliffs	2	7	2	0	2.00

Iamgold presently has a consensus price target of $21.83, indicating a potential upside of 6.94%. Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus price target of $12.06, indicating a potential downside of 3.71%. Given Iamgold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Iamgold is more favorable than Cleveland-Cliffs.

Volatility and Risk

Iamgold has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cleveland-Cliffs has a beta of 2.1, indicating that its stock price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Iamgold and Cleveland-Cliffs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iamgold	31.40%	28.97%	20.87%
Cleveland-Cliffs	-4.56%	-13.37%	-3.96%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Iamgold and Cleveland-Cliffs”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iamgold	$2.85 billion	4.07	$664.40 million	$1.98	10.31
Cleveland-Cliffs	$19.20 billion	0.37	-$1.48 billion	($1.62)	-7.73

Iamgold has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cleveland-Cliffs. Cleveland-Cliffs is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Iamgold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

47.1% of Iamgold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Iamgold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Iamgold beats Cleveland-Cliffs on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Iamgold

IAMGOLD Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an intermediate gold producer and developer in Canada and Burkina Faso. It owns 100% interest in the Westwood project that covers an area of 1,925 hectare and located in Quebec; a 60% interest in the Côté gold project, which covers an area of 596 square kilometer located in Ontario, Canada; and a 90% interests in the Essakane project that covers an area of 274,000 square kilometer situated in Burkina Faso. IAMGOLD Corporation was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in August 2017. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.