Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) versus Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) Financial Contrast

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Eldorado Gold and Steel Dynamics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eldorado Gold	29.83%	10.91%	7.07%
Steel Dynamics	7.83%	18.12%	9.81%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

69.6% of Eldorado Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Eldorado Gold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Eldorado Gold and Steel Dynamics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eldorado Gold	0	7	6	2	2.67
Steel Dynamics	0	4	8	0	2.67

Eldorado Gold currently has a consensus target price of $46.57, indicating a potential upside of 11.00%. Steel Dynamics has a consensus target price of $258.55, indicating a potential upside of 10.65%. Given Eldorado Gold’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Eldorado Gold is more favorable than Steel Dynamics.

Dividends

Eldorado Gold pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Eldorado Gold pays out 10.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Steel Dynamics pays out 19.2% 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. Steel Dynamics has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Steel Dynamics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Eldorado Gold and Steel Dynamics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eldorado Gold	$1.82 billion	6.03	$507.26 million	$2.82	14.88
Steel Dynamics	$18.18 billion	1.84	$1.19 billion	$11.03	21.18

Steel Dynamics has higher revenue and earnings than Eldorado Gold. Eldorado Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Steel Dynamics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Eldorado Gold has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Steel Dynamics beats Eldorado Gold on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemçukuru mines located in Turkey; Lamaque complex located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania. The company was formerly known as Eldorado Corporation Ltd. and changed its name to Eldorado Gold Corporation in April 1996. Eldorado Gold Corporation was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Steel Dynamics

Steel Dynamics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products. This segment also engages in turning, polishing, straightening, chamfering, precision saw-cutting, and heat treating of bar products. Its products are used in construction, automotive, manufacturing, transportation, heavy and agriculture equipment, and pipe and tube markets. The Metals Recycling Operations segment is involved in the ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal processing, transportation, marketing, brokerage, and scrap management services. Its ferrous products include heavy melting steel, busheling, bundled scrap, shredded scrap, steel turnings, and cast-iron products; and nonferrous products comprise aluminum, brass, copper, stainless steel, and other nonferrous metals. The Steel Fabrication Operations segment produces steel non-residential building components, such as steel joists, girders, trusses, and steel deck products for non-residential steel fabricators, metal building companies, general construction contractors, developers, owners, brokers, and governmental entities, as well as e-commerce warehouses, data centers, metal buildings, and education and commercial building projects. The Aluminum Operations segment offers recycled aluminum flat rolled products. The company also exports its products. Steel Dynamics, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.