Mountain Province Diamonds (OTCMKTS:MPVDF) versus Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) Critical Survey

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and Mountain Province Diamonds (OTCMKTS:MPVDF) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mountain Province Diamonds has a beta of 2.09, meaning that its stock price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.4% of Mountain Province Diamonds shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Mountain Province Diamonds shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Mountain Province Diamonds’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-0.25%	-0.20%
Mountain Province Diamonds	-29.66%	-4.09%	-1.76%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Mountain Province Diamonds, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	4	1	2.67
Mountain Province Diamonds	0	0	0	0	N/A

Lithium Americas (Argentina) currently has a consensus price target of $8.21, suggesting a potential upside of 255.34%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Mountain Province Diamonds.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Mountain Province Diamonds’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.99	0.29
Mountain Province Diamonds	$243.43 million	0.09	-$32.35 million	($0.26)	-0.40

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

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Mountain Province Diamonds on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Mountain Province Diamonds

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. focuses on the mining and marketing of rough diamonds worldwide. The company holds a 49% interest in the Gahcho Kué mine comprising mining leases covering an area of 5,216 hectares; and 100% of the mineral rights of the Kennady North consisting of 22 federal leases and 97 claims covering an area of 113,000 hectares located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. The company was formerly known as Mountain Province Mining Inc. and changed its name to Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. in October 2000. Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.