Financial Comparison: Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) versus Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene (NYSE:CNC) and Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Centene and Aethlon Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Centene	2.04%	14.56%	4.75%
Aethlon Medical	N/A	-221.38%	-156.83%

Risk & Volatility

Centene has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aethlon Medical has a beta of 1.69, meaning that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.6% of Centene shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Centene shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Centene and Aethlon Medical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Centene	$163.07 billion	0.09	$3.31 billion	$6.71	4.17
Aethlon Medical	N/A	N/A	-$13.39 million	($12.64)	-0.10

Centene has higher revenue and earnings than Aethlon Medical. Aethlon Medical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Centene, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Centene and Aethlon Medical, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Centene	1	11	6	0	2.28
Aethlon Medical	0	1	0	0	2.00

Centene currently has a consensus price target of $58.63, indicating a potential upside of 109.75%. Aethlon Medical has a consensus price target of $56.00, indicating a potential upside of 4,241.09%. Given Aethlon Medical’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aethlon Medical is more favorable than Centene.

Summary

Centene beats Aethlon Medical on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support. This segment also provides healthcare products. The Medicare segment offers special needs and medicare supplement, and prescription drug plans. The Commercial segment provides health insurance marketplace product for individual, small, and large group commercials. It also operates clinical healthcare and pharmacies, as well as offers dental and speech therapy services. In addition, the company engages in the government contracts business under the TRICARE program and other healthcare related government contracts. It provides services through primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers. Centene Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical, Inc., a medical therapeutic company, focuses on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases in the United States. It develops Hemopurifier, a clinical-stage immunotherapeutic device that removes tumor-derived exosomes and life-threatening viruses and use in organ transplantation. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in San Diego, California.