National Research (NRC) Competitors

National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) and Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NRC or ASTH?

47.3% of National Research shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Astrana Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.1% of National Research shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Astrana Health shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, NRC or ASTH?

National Research has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrana Health has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, NRC or ASTH?

Astrana Health has higher revenue and earnings than National Research. National Research is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Astrana Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Research	$141.30M	2.24	$24.78M	$1.03	13.49
Astrana Health	$2.25B	0.58	$43.15M	$0.72	32.32

Does the media prefer NRC or ASTH?

In the previous week, Astrana Health had 7 more articles in the media than National Research. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Astrana Health and 2 mentions for National Research. National Research's average media sentiment score of 1.71 beat Astrana Health's score of 0.54 indicating that National Research is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
National Research	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Astrana Health	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NRC or ASTH more profitable?

National Research has a net margin of 17.14% compared to Astrana Health's net margin of 1.56%. National Research's return on equity of 71.33% beat Astrana Health's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Research	17.14%	71.33%	18.67%
Astrana Health	1.56%	4.90%	2.68%

Do analysts prefer NRC or ASTH?

Astrana Health has a consensus target price of $53.29, indicating a potential upside of 128.99%. Given Astrana Health's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Astrana Health is more favorable than National Research.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Research	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Astrana Health	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

Astrana Health beats National Research on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.