Financial Review: US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) versus DRDGOLD (NYSE:DRD)

US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) and DRDGOLD (NYSE:DRD) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for US Gold and DRDGOLD, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
US Gold	1	1	2	0	2.25
DRDGOLD	0	0	2	1	3.33

US Gold presently has a consensus price target of $26.75, suggesting a potential upside of 57.45%. DRDGOLD has a consensus price target of $46.50, suggesting a potential upside of 54.03%. Given US Gold’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe US Gold is more favorable than DRDGOLD.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares US Gold and DRDGOLD”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
US Gold	N/A	N/A	-$20.56 million	($1.45)	-11.72
DRDGOLD	$433.84 million	6.02	$123.57 million	N/A	N/A

DRDGOLD has higher revenue and earnings than US Gold.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

6.6% of US Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.7% of DRDGOLD shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.8% of US Gold shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of DRDGOLD shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

US Gold has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DRDGOLD has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares US Gold and DRDGOLD’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
US Gold	N/A	-51.92%	-44.32%
DRDGOLD	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

DRDGOLD beats US Gold on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About US Gold

U.S. Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and development of gold and precious metals in the United States. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company holds 100% interests in the CK Gold project, which consists of various mining leases and other mineral rights covering approximately 1,120 acres in Laramie County, Wyoming; the Keystone project that consists of 601 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 20 square miles in Eureka County, Nevada; and the Challis Gold project, which consists of 77 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 1,710 acres in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also has earn-in agreement to acquire a 50% ownership interest in the Maggie Creek project located in Eureka County, Nevada. The company was formerly known as Dataram Corporation and changed its name to U.S. Gold Corp. in June 2017. U.S. Gold Corp. is based in Elko, Nevada.

About DRDGOLD

DRDGOLD Limited, a gold mining company, engages in the surface gold tailings retreatment business in South Africa. It also involved in the exploration, extraction, processing, and smelting activities. The company recovers gold from surface tailings in the Witwatersrand basin in Gauteng province. DRDGOLD Limited was formerly known as Durban Roodepoort Deep Limited and changed its name to DRDGOLD Limited in 2004. The company was incorporated in 1895 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. DRDGOLD Limited is a subsidiary of Sibanye Gold Limited.