AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN) versus Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) Critical Comparison

Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) and AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Zicix and AMN Healthcare Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A
AMN Healthcare Services	-3.51%	8.05%	2.38%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Zicix and AMN Healthcare Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zicix	0	0	0	0	0.00
AMN Healthcare Services	2	3	4	0	2.22

AMN Healthcare Services has a consensus price target of $22.64, indicating a potential upside of 3.91%. Given AMN Healthcare Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AMN Healthcare Services is more favorable than Zicix.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.2% of AMN Healthcare Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of AMN Healthcare Services shares are owned by 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Zicix and AMN Healthcare Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A	($100.14)	-0.02
AMN Healthcare Services	$2.73 billion	0.31	-$95.70 million	($2.49)	-8.75

Zicix has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AMN Healthcare Services. AMN Healthcare Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zicix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Zicix has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMN Healthcare Services has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AMN Healthcare Services beats Zicix on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zicix

Zicix Corporation, through its subsidiary, Texas Mobile Health, Inc., provides diagnostic medical imaging services in Houston, Texas. It offers cardiac diagnostic services, including echocardiogram, stress testing, carotid ultrasound, and halter and event monitoring services; medical services, such as general medical care, medical care for home health patients, general and immigration physicals, weight reduction, cold laser pain relief treatment, physical therapy, and anti-aging treatment; and MRI, CT, and X-Ray services. The company was formerly known as Bederra Corporation and changed its name to Zicix Corporation on February 8, 2011. Zicix Corporation was founded in 1979 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About AMN Healthcare Services

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: Nurse and Allied Solutions, Physician and Leadership Solutions, and Technology and Workforce Solutions. The Nurse and Allied Solutions segment offers travel nurse staffing, labor disruption staffing, local staffing, international nurse and allied permanent placement, and allied staffing solutions. The Physician and Leadership Solutions segment provides locum tenens staffing, healthcare interim leadership staffing, executive search, and physician permanent placement solutions. The Technology and Workforce Solutions segment offers language services, vendor management systems, workforce optimization, and outsourced solutions. The company also provides allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, medical and radiology technologists, lab technicians, speech pathologists, rehabilitation assistants, and pharmacists. It offers its services under the brands, including AMN Healthcare, Nursefinders, HealthSource Global Staffing, O'Grady Peyton International, Connetics, Medical Search International, DRW Healthcare Staffing, and B.E. Smith. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.