Contrasting Dakota Gold (NYSE:DC) and Searchlight Resources (OTCMKTS:CNYCF)

Dakota Gold (NYSE:DC) and Searchlight Resources (OTCMKTS:CNYCF) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Dakota Gold and Searchlight Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dakota Gold	0	0	1	0	3.00
Searchlight Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00

Dakota Gold presently has a consensus target price of $9.75, suggesting a potential upside of 153.91%. Given Dakota Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Dakota Gold is more favorable than Searchlight Resources.

Profitability

This table compares Dakota Gold and Searchlight Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dakota Gold	N/A	-37.64%	-35.60%
Searchlight Resources	N/A	-65.63%	-63.23%

Risk and Volatility

Dakota Gold has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Searchlight Resources has a beta of 2.41, meaning that its stock price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

37.4% of Dakota Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 17.4% of Dakota Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.1% of Searchlight Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dakota Gold and Searchlight Resources”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dakota Gold	N/A	N/A	-$36.45 million	($0.31)	-12.39
Searchlight Resources	N/A	N/A	-$1.05 million	N/A	N/A

Summary

Dakota Gold beats Searchlight Resources on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dakota Gold

Dakota Gold Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in the United States. It primarily explores for gold deposits. The company holds 100% interest in the Blind Gold, City Creek, Tinton, West Corridor, Ragged Top, Poorman Anticline, Maitland, South Lead/ Whistler Gulch, the Barrick Option, Richmond Hill and Homestake Paleoplacer Properties located in Homestake Mining District, South Dakota. Dakota Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Lead, South Dakota.

About Searchlight Resources

Searchlight Resources Inc., an exploration stage company, acquires, explores for, and develops mineral properties in Canada. It explores for copper, cobalt, gold, vanadium, nickel, and uranium deposits, as well as rare earth elements. The company holds interests in the Bootleg Lake gold property located near Creighton, Saskatchewan; the Duddridge Lake property situated to the northwest of La Ronge, Saskatchewan; and the Cameron cobalt property located in the north of North Bay, Ontario. It also holds interests in the Flin Flon North project situated in Saskatchewan; the English Bay property located to the north La Ronge, Saskatchewan; the Kulyk Lake rare earth project situated to the north La Ronge, Saskatchewan; the Reef Lake nickel project located in north central Saskatchewan; and the Wapawekka Greenstone project situated to western section of Wapawekka Greenstone Belt. In addition, it has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Robinson Creek gold project located to the west of Creighton, Saskatchewan. The company was formerly known as Canyon Copper Corp. and changed its name to Searchlight Resources Inc. in July 2018. Searchlight Resources Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.