Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) and Buenaventura Mining (NYSE:BVN) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitabiliy, institutional ownership and earnings.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Barrick Gold Corporation and Buenaventura Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Barrick Gold Corporation | 0 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 2.47 |
| Buenaventura Mining | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
Barrick Gold Corporation presently has a consensus price target of $21.99, suggesting a potential upside of 32.41%. Buenaventura Mining has a consensus price target of $15.10, suggesting a potential upside of 24.59%. Given Barrick Gold Corporation’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Barrick Gold Corporation is more favorable than Buenaventura Mining.
Profitability
This table compares Barrick Gold Corporation and Buenaventura Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Barrick Gold Corporation | 26.95% | 8.91% | 3.71% |
| Buenaventura Mining | -33.54% | -11.01% | -7.92% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
57.7% of Barrick Gold Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.4% of Buenaventura Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.3% of Buenaventura Mining shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
Barrick Gold Corporation pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Buenaventura Mining pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Barrick Gold Corporation pays out 5.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Buenaventura Mining pays out -5.6% 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.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Barrick Gold Corporation and Buenaventura Mining’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Barrick Gold Corporation | $8.77 billion | 2.21 | $4.42 billion | $2.02 | 8.22 |
| Buenaventura Mining | $1.09 billion | 2.81 | $280.34 million | ($1.44) | -8.42 |
Barrick Gold Corporation has higher revenue and earnings than Buenaventura Mining. Buenaventura Mining is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barrick Gold Corporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Barrick Gold Corporation has a beta of -0.23, meaning that its stock price is 123% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Buenaventura Mining has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.
Summary
Barrick Gold Corporation beats Buenaventura Mining on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Barrick Gold Corporation
Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick) is a gold mining company. The Company is principally engaged in the production and sale of gold and copper, as well as related activities, such as exploration and mine development. The Company’s segments include Goldstrike, Cortez, Pueblo Viejo, Lagunas Norte, Veladero, Turquoise Ridge, Acacia Mining plc (Acacia), Pascua-Lama and Other Mines. Goldstrike, Cortez, Pueblo Viejo, Lagunas Norte, Veladero and Turquoise Ridge are its individual gold mines. The Company, through its subsidiary, Acacia, owns gold mines and exploration properties in Africa. It also holds interest in gold mines, including Porgera and Kalgoorlie, and copper mines, such as Zaldivar and Lumwana. The Pascua-Lama project is located on the border between Chile and Argentina. The Company has nine producing gold mines, which are located in Canada, the United States, Peru, Argentina, Australia and the Dominican Republic.
About Buenaventura Mining
Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. (Buenaventura) is a precious metals company. The Company is engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of gold, silver and other metals in Peru. The Company’s segments include Production and sale of minerals; Exploration and development activities; Construction and engineering services; Energy generation and transmission services; Insurance brokerage; Rental of mining concessions; Holding of investment in shares (mainly in Minera Yanacocha S.R.L. and S.M.R.L. Chaupiloma Dos de Cajamarca), and Industrial activities. The Company operates the Orcopampa, Uchucchacua, Julcani, Mallay and Breapampa mines and has controlling interests in over three other mining companies, which operate the Colquijirca-Marcapunta, Tantahuatay and La Zanja mines. It also owns an electric power transmission company, a hydroelectric plant, a processing plant and an engineering services consulting company and non-controlling interests in various other mining companies.
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