Contrasting Auna (NYSE:AUNA) & SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU)

Auna (NYSE:AUNA) and SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Auna and SeaStar Medical, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Auna	1	1	1	2	2.80
SeaStar Medical	1	0	0	0	1.00

Auna currently has a consensus target price of $7.30, indicating a potential upside of 29.89%. SeaStar Medical has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 68.54%. Given SeaStar Medical’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SeaStar Medical is more favorable than Auna.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Auna and SeaStar Medical”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Auna	$1.23 billion	0.34	$27.39 million	$0.36	15.61
SeaStar Medical	$1.23 million	11.55	-$12.15 million	($8.30)	-0.43

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

Profitability

This table compares Auna and SeaStar Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Auna	2.13%	19.23%	4.70%
SeaStar Medical	-984.60%	-188.47%	-106.42%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Auna has a beta of 1.62, suggesting that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SeaStar Medical has a beta of -1.21, suggesting that its share price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Auna beats SeaStar Medical on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Auna

Auna S.A., a healthcare service provider, operates hospitals and clinics in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The company provides prepaid healthcare plans in Peru; and dental and vision plans in Mexico. The company was founded in 1989 and is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

About SeaStar Medical

SeaStar Medical Holding Corporation, a medical device company, develops a platform therapy to reduce the consequences of hyperinflammation on vital organs in the United States. The company offers inflammatory response to fend off infections and repair damaged tissue in the body. It is also developing products in various therapeutic areas, including pediatric and adult acute kidney injury on CRRT; cardiorenal syndrome in congestive heart failure; myocardial stunning in end stage renal disease; and hepatorenal syndrome. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.