Ra Medical Systems (NYSE:RMED) and Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and profitability.
Risk and Volatility
Ra Medical Systems has a beta of 1.62, indicating that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aethlon Medical has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ra Medical Systems and Aethlon Medical, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Ra Medical Systems | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Aethlon Medical | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Ra Medical Systems presently has a consensus price target of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 443.10%. Aethlon Medical has a consensus price target of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 214.14%. Given Ra Medical Systems' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ra Medical Systems is more favorable than Aethlon Medical.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
2.7% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Ra Medical Systems shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Ra Medical Systems and Aethlon Medical's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Ra Medical Systems | -772.04% | -120.68% | -85.93% |
| Aethlon Medical | N/A | -55.32% | -49.72% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Ra Medical Systems and Aethlon Medical's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Ra Medical Systems | $7.20 million | 2.35 | $-56,960,000.00 | ($108.25) | -0.05 |
| Aethlon Medical | $650,000.00 | 35.63 | $-6,390,000.00 | ($1.87) | -1.02 |
Aethlon Medical has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ra Medical Systems. Aethlon Medical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ra Medical Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Aethlon Medical beats Ra Medical Systems on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
