Critical Survey: Wealth Minerals (OTCMKTS:WMLLF) and Western Copper & Gold (NYSE:WRN)

Wealth Minerals (OTCMKTS:WMLLF) and Western Copper & Gold (NYSE:WRN) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wealth Minerals and Western Copper & Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wealth Minerals	N/A	N/A	-$7.73 million	($0.04)	-1.38
Western Copper & Gold	N/A	N/A	-$2.47 million	($0.02)	-51.50

Western Copper & Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wealth Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Wealth Minerals has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Copper & Gold has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Wealth Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.0% of Western Copper & Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of Western Copper & Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Wealth Minerals and Western Copper & Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wealth Minerals	N/A	-28.18%	-27.86%
Western Copper & Gold	N/A	-3.53%	-3.45%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Wealth Minerals and Western Copper & Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wealth Minerals	0	0	0	0	0.00
Western Copper & Gold	0	0	4	1	3.20

Western Copper & Gold has a consensus price target of $4.25, indicating a potential upside of 312.62%. Given Western Copper & Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Western Copper & Gold is more favorable than Wealth Minerals.

Summary

Western Copper & Gold beats Wealth Minerals on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wealth Minerals

Wealth Minerals Ltd., a junior mineral resource exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for lithium, as well as for precious metal and copper deposits. Its flagship property is the 100% owned Atacama project that comprises 144 exploration concessions covering an area of approximately 46,200 hectares located in the Atacama Salar in Region II of Antofagasta, northern Chile. Wealth Minerals Ltd. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Western Copper & Gold

Western Copper & Gold Corp. operates as an exploration stage company, which engages in the acquisition, exploration, and future development of mineral resource properties. It currently focuses on the development of the Casino Project. The company was founded on March 17, 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.