Voestalpine (OTCMKTS:VLPNY) and Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) Head to Head Contrast

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) and Voestalpine (OTCMKTS:VLPNY) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Dividends

Pan American Silver pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Voestalpine pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Pan American Silver pays out 22.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Voestalpine pays out 12.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Pan American Silver has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Pan American Silver is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Pan American Silver has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Voestalpine has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pan American Silver and Voestalpine’s 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%
Voestalpine	3.39%	6.66%	3.30%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pan American Silver and Voestalpine”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	5.49	$978.00 million	$3.31	14.52
Voestalpine	$17.47 billion	0.50	$492.57 million	$0.70	14.50

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Pan American Silver and Voestalpine, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pan American Silver	0	3	7	0	2.70
Voestalpine	0	3	3	0	2.50

Pan American Silver currently has a consensus price target of $67.71, indicating a potential upside of 40.93%. Given Pan American Silver’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Pan American Silver is more favorable than Voestalpine.

Summary

Pan American Silver beats Voestalpine on 14 of the 17 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 Voestalpine

Voestalpine AG processes, develops, manufactures, and sells steel products in Austria, European Union, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Steel, High Performance Metals, Metal Engineering, Metal Forming, and Other. The Steel division produces hot and cold-rolled steel strips, as well as electrogalvanized, hot-dip galvanized, and organically coated steel strips; and heavy plates for the energy sector, as well as turbine casings for automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and others. The High Performance Metals segment offers special alloys for the oil and natural gas, aerospace, and energy engineering industries; tool manufacturing, component processing, heat treatment, and coating services; and warehousing and preprocessing of special steels, as well as services, including logistics, distribution, and processing for the oil and natural gas industries for automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, aerospace, mechanical engineering, and others. The Metal Engineering division offers rails and turnout products, rod and drawn wires, seamless tubes, and welding consumables and machinery; rails and digital monitoring systems; and services for rail infrastructure. This segment serves railway systems, automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and others. The Metal Forming division manufactures special tubes and sections, and precision strip steel products, as well as pre-finished system components made from pressed, stamped, and roll-profiled parts for use in automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and others. The company is headquartered in Linz, Austria.