Contrasting Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) & Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI)

Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) and Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Intrepid Potash and Energy Fuels, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intrepid Potash	0	1	0	0	2.00
Energy Fuels	0	2	2	0	2.50

Intrepid Potash currently has a consensus target price of $23.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.20%. Energy Fuels has a consensus target price of $8.58, indicating a potential upside of 45.60%. Given Energy Fuels’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Energy Fuels is more favorable than Intrepid Potash.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Intrepid Potash and Energy Fuels”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intrepid Potash	$252.47 million	1.25	-$35.67 million	($3.38)	-7.03
Energy Fuels	$45.60 million	20.85	$99.86 million	($0.07)	-84.21

Energy Fuels has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Intrepid Potash. Energy Fuels is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intrepid Potash, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.1% of Intrepid Potash shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.2% of Energy Fuels shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.0% of Intrepid Potash shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Energy Fuels shares are owned by 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 Intrepid Potash and Energy Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intrepid Potash	-19.19%	-2.02%	-1.77%
Energy Fuels	-27.23%	-6.56%	-6.24%

Volatility & Risk

Intrepid Potash has a beta of 2.18, indicating that its share price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Intrepid Potash beats Energy Fuels on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Intrepid Potash

Intrepid Potash, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction and production of the potash in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. The company offers muriate of potash for various markets, such as agricultural market as a fertilizer input; the industrial market as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes; and the animal feed market as a nutrient supplement. It also provides Trio, a specialty fertilizer that delivers potassium, sulfate, and magnesium in a single particle; water for oil and gas services industry; salt for various markets, including animal feed, industrial applications, pool salt, and the treatment of roads and walkways for ice melting or to manage road conditions; magnesium chloride for use as a road treatment agent for deicing and dedusting; brines for use in oil and gas industry to support well workover and completion activities; and metal recovery salts. Intrepid Potash, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Energy Fuels

Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction, recovery, recycling, exploration, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States. The company produces and sells vanadium pentoxide, rare earth elements, and heavy mineral sands, such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in May 2006. Energy Fuels Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.