DRDGOLD Limited (NYSE: DRD) and Pershing Gold Corporation (NASDAQ:PGLC) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for DRDGOLD Limited and Pershing Gold Corporation, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| DRDGOLD Limited | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Pershing Gold Corporation | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Pershing Gold Corporation has a consensus price target of $7.88, indicating a potential upside of 160.76%. Given Pershing Gold Corporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pershing Gold Corporation is more favorable than DRDGOLD Limited.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
26.6% of DRDGOLD Limited shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.3% of Pershing Gold Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of DRDGOLD Limited shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 39.8% of Pershing Gold Corporation shares are owned 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.
Volatility & Risk
DRDGOLD Limited has a beta of -1.96, indicating that its share price is 296% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pershing Gold Corporation has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares DRDGOLD Limited and Pershing Gold Corporation’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| DRDGOLD Limited | $187.84 million | 0.73 | $19.66 million | N/A | N/A |
| Pershing Gold Corporation | N/A | N/A | -$14.71 million | ($0.59) | -5.12 |
DRDGOLD Limited has higher revenue and earnings than Pershing Gold Corporation.
Dividends
DRDGOLD Limited pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Pershing Gold Corporation does not pay a dividend. Pershing Gold Corporation has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares DRDGOLD Limited and Pershing Gold Corporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| DRDGOLD Limited | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Pershing Gold Corporation | N/A | -43.00% | -40.70% |
About DRDGOLD Limited
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DRDGOLD Limited is a gold mining company. The Company is engaged in gold production by tailings retreatment. The Company is focused on the recovery of lower-risk, higher-margin ounces primarily from its metallurgical plant located approximately 50 kilometers east of Johannesburg in Brakpan. The Company owns approximately 100% of its holding company, Ergo Mining Operations Proprietary Limited (EMO). Ergo Mining Proprietary Limited (Ergo) is owned by EMO. Ergo has a vast footprint adjacent to Johannesburg on the central and eastern Witwatersrand of South Africa. Its assets cover an area of approximately 62 kilometers from east to west and over 25 kilometers from north to south. The Ergo operation has over two metallurgical plants in operation, including Knights plant and The Ergo plant. The Knights plant in Germiston is treating the Cason dump and depositing waste on the Brakpan tailings facility (BTF). The Ergo plant has a total treatment capacity of 300,000 tons per month (tpm).
About Pershing Gold Corporation
Pershing Gold Corporation is a gold and precious metals exploration company. The Company focuses on exploration, development and mining opportunities in Nevada. The Company is focused on exploration at its Relief Canyon properties in Pershing County in northwestern Nevada. The Company operates its business directly and also through its subsidiary, Gold Acquisition Corp. Gold Acquisition Corp. owns and is engaged in conducting exploration on the Relief Canyon Mine property in northwestern Nevada. The Company is engaged in conducting exploration on the Relief Canyon expansion properties. The Relief Canyon Mine includes approximately three open pit mines, heap leach pads consisting of approximately six cells, approximately two solution ponds and a cement block constructed adsorption desorption-recovery (ADR) solution processing circuit. The Pershing Pass property includes approximately 490 lode mining claims. The Company has not generated any revenues.
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