Applied Minerals (OTCMKTS:AMNL) versus Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Head to Head Analysis

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) and Applied Minerals (OTCMKTS:AMNL) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Knife River and Applied Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Knife River	6.62%	16.60%	7.25%
Applied Minerals	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.1% of Knife River shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.0% of Applied Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.7% of Applied Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Knife River and Applied Minerals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Knife River	0	0	2	0	3.00
Applied Minerals	0	0	0	0	N/A

Knife River presently has a consensus price target of $61.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.49%.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Knife River and Applied Minerals’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Knife River	$2.72 billion	1.20	$116.22 million	N/A	N/A
Applied Minerals	$1.41 million	0.00	-$3.28 million	N/A	N/A

Knife River has higher revenue and earnings than Applied Minerals.

Summary

Knife River beats Applied Minerals on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation provides aggregates-based construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through six segments: Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, North Central, South, and Energy Services. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete, as well as provides contracting services to support the aggregate-based product lines, including heavy-civil construction, asphalt and concrete paving, and site development and grading. It serves federal, state, and municipal governments for various projects, such as highways, bridges, airports, schools, public buildings, and other public-infrastructure projects. The company was founded in 1917 and is based in Bismarck, North Dakota.

About Applied Minerals

Applied Minerals, Inc. extracts, processes, and markets halloysite clay and iron oxide. The company owns the Dragon mine property that consists of 38 patented and 6 unpatented mining claims covering an area of 267 acres located in Juab County, Utah. It provides halloysite clay-based line of products for use in various applications, such as molecular sieves and catalysts, flame retardant additives for plastics, binders for ceramics, nucleation and reinforcement of polymers, paints and coatings, batteries, agriculture, environmental remediation, controlled release carriers cosmetics, and others under the tradename DRAGONITE. The company also offers natural iron oxide-based products for the pigmentary and technical application markets under the trade name AMIRON. It markets and sells its products directly, as well as through employees, agents, and distributors. The company was formerly known as Atlas Mining Company and changed its name to Applied Minerals, Inc. in October 2009. Applied Minerals, Inc. was incorporated in 1924 is based in Eureka, Utah.