Head to Head Review: Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK) & Assure (NASDAQ:IONM)

Assure (NASDAQ:IONM – Get Rating) and Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK – Get Rating) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Assure and Anika Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assure	-40.19%	-231.42%	-98.55%
Anika Therapeutics	-14.15%	-3.77%	-3.08%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Assure and Anika Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assure	0	0	2	0	3.00
Anika Therapeutics	0	2	0	0	2.00

Assure currently has a consensus price target of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 3,395.15%. Anika Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $29.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.24%. Given Assure’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Assure is more favorable than Anika Therapeutics.

Volatility & Risk

Assure has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Anika Therapeutics has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Assure and Anika Therapeutics’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assure	$10.98 million	0.10	-$30.11 million	N/A	N/A
Anika Therapeutics	$156.24 million	2.51	-$14.86 million	($1.54)	-17.22

Anika Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Assure.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.6% of Assure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Anika Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 28.1% of Assure shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Anika Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Anika Therapeutics beats Assure on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Assure

(Get Rating)

Assure Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides technical and professional intraoperative neuromonitoring surgical support services primarily associated with spine and head surgeries. It delivers various clinical and operational services, including scheduling of the interoperative neurophysiologist and supervising practitioner, real time monitoring, patient advocacy, and billing services to support surgeons and medical facilities during invasive procedures. The company has operations in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, the United States. Assure Holdings Corp. is based in Englewood, Colorado.

About Anika Therapeutics

(Get Rating)

Anika Therapeutics, Inc. is an orthopedic and regenerative medicines company, which develops, manufactures and commercializes therapeutic products for pain management, tissue regeneration, and wound healing. Its products are based on hyaluronic acid, a natural chemical occurring, biocompatible polymer found throughout the body. It offers therapeutic products which include orthobiologics, dermal, ophthalmic, surgical, ophthalmic and veterinary. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Bedford, MA.