Contrasting Vale (NYSE:VALE) and Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC)

Vale (NYSE:VALE) and Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Vale and Lithium Americas (Argentina), as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vale	0	4	7	0	2.64
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	4	1	2.67

Vale presently has a consensus target price of $16.17, suggesting a potential upside of 38.35%. Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a consensus target price of $8.21, suggesting a potential upside of 150.25%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Vale.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

21.9% of Vale shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Vale has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vale and Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vale	23.07%	22.23%	9.71%
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-0.25%	-0.20%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vale and Lithium Americas (Argentina)”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vale	$42.06 billion	1.25	$7.98 billion	$1.81	6.46
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.99	0.41

Vale has higher revenue and earnings than Lithium Americas (Argentina). Lithium Americas (Argentina) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vale, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Vale

Vale S.A., together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services. The Energy Transition Materials segment produces and extracts nickel used to produce stainless steel, electric vehicles, and metal alloys; and its by-products, such as gold, silver, cobalt, precious metals, platinum, and others, as well as copper used in the construction sector to produce pipes and electrical wires. The company was formerly known as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and changed its name to Vale S.A. in May 2009. Vale S.A. was founded in 1942 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.