The Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) and Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) Head-To-Head Review

The Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) and Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares The Pennant Group and Astrana Health”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Pennant Group	$695.24 million	1.25	$22.56 million	$0.78	32.27
Astrana Health	$2.03 billion	0.85	$43.15 million	$0.51	60.16

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

Profitability

This table compares The Pennant Group and Astrana Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Pennant Group	3.36%	9.85%	4.04%
Astrana Health	1.04%	3.43%	1.87%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.9% of The Pennant Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Astrana Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of The Pennant Group 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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

The Pennant Group has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrana Health has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for The Pennant Group and Astrana Health, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Pennant Group	0	2	3	0	2.60
Astrana Health	0	3	6	0	2.67

The Pennant Group presently has a consensus target price of $33.40, suggesting a potential upside of 32.70%. Astrana Health has a consensus target price of $53.2857, suggesting a potential upside of 73.68%. Given Astrana Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Astrana Health is more favorable than The Pennant Group.

About The Pennant Group

The Pennant Group, Inc. provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Home Health and Hospice Services, and Senior Living Services. The company offers home health services, including clinical services, such as nursing, speech, occupational and physical therapy, medical social work, and home health aide services; and hospice services comprising clinical care, education, and counseling services for the physical, spiritual, and psychosocial needs of terminally ill patients and their families. It also provides senior living services, such as residential accommodations, activities, meals, housekeeping, and assistance in the activities of daily living to seniors who are independent or who require some support. The company operates home health, hospice, and home care agencies, as well as senior living communities throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The Pennant Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Eagle, Idaho.

About Astrana Health

Astrana Health, Inc., Inc., a physician-centric technology-powered healthcare management company, provides medical care services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Care Partners, Care Delivery, and Care Enablement. The company is leveraging its proprietary population health management and healthcare delivery platform, operates an integrated, value-based healthcare model which empowers the providers in its network to deliver care to its patients. It offers care coordination services to patients, families, primary care physicians, specialists, acute care hospitals, alternative sites of inpatient care, physician groups, and health plans. The company's physician network consists of primary care physicians, specialist physicians and extenders, and hospitalists. It serves patients, primarily covered by private or public insurance, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and health maintenance organization plans; and non-insured patients. The company was formerly known as Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Astrana Health, Inc. in February 2024. Astrana Health, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Alhambra, California.