Head to Head Comparison: B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) versus Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE)

Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) and B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Coeur Mining and B2Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coeur Mining	$1.01 billion	2.54	-$103.61 million	($0.03)	-214.33
B2Gold	$1.91 billion	1.79	$10.10 million	($0.56)	-4.66

B2Gold has higher revenue and earnings than Coeur Mining. Coeur Mining is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than B2Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Coeur Mining and B2Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coeur Mining	-0.44%	1.78%	0.86%
B2Gold	-38.42%	7.53%	5.56%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Coeur Mining and B2Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coeur Mining	0	1	4	1	3.00
B2Gold	0	5	1	0	2.17

Coeur Mining presently has a consensus target price of $7.81, indicating a potential upside of 21.50%. B2Gold has a consensus target price of $4.12, indicating a potential upside of 57.73%. Given B2Gold’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe B2Gold is more favorable than Coeur Mining.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

63.0% of Coeur Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of B2Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Coeur Mining shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of B2Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Coeur Mining has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, B2Gold has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Coeur Mining beats B2Gold on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coeur Mining

Coeur Mining, Inc. explores for precious metals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, and lead properties. It markets and sells its concentrates to third-party customers, smelters, under off-take agreements. The company was formerly known as Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation and changed its name to Coeur Mining, Inc. in May 2013. Coeur Mining, Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp. In addition, it has a portfolio of other evaluation and exploration assets in Mali and Finland. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.