Financial Review: Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) vs. Quaterra Resources (OTCMKTS:QTRRF)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Quaterra Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	3	3	1	2.71
Quaterra Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lithium Americas (Argentina) presently has a consensus price target of $7.19, indicating a potential upside of 179.67%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than Quaterra Resources.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Quaterra Resources”s top-line 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	$7.79	0.33
Quaterra Resources	N/A	N/A	-$980,000.00	N/A	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Quaterra Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-1.37%	-1.08%
Quaterra Resources	N/A	-6.27%	-6.15%

Risk & Volatility

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quaterra Resources has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Quaterra Resources on 10 of the 10 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 Quaterra Resources

Quaterra Resources, Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. It holds interest in the Groundhog and Quaterra’s Yerington Copper projects. The company was founded on May 11, 1993 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.