SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) versus Pacific Health Care Organization (OTCMKTS:PFHO) Critical Survey

SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) and Pacific Health Care Organization (OTCMKTS:PFHO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 61.6% of Pacific Health Care Organization 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.

Risk & Volatility

SeaStar Medical has a beta of -1.21, suggesting that its share price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific Health Care Organization has a beta of 0.16, suggesting that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for SeaStar Medical and Pacific Health Care Organization, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SeaStar Medical	1	0	0	0	1.00
Pacific Health Care Organization	0	0	0	0	0.00

SeaStar Medical presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 61.73%. Given SeaStar Medical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe SeaStar Medical is more favorable than Pacific Health Care Organization.

Profitability

This table compares SeaStar Medical and Pacific Health Care Organization’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SeaStar Medical	-984.60%	-188.47%	-106.42%
Pacific Health Care Organization	20.67%	10.99%	10.53%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SeaStar Medical and Pacific Health Care Organization”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SeaStar Medical	$1.23 million	12.03	-$12.15 million	($8.30)	-0.45
Pacific Health Care Organization	$6.72 million	2.29	$1.39 million	$0.11	10.91

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

Summary

Pacific Health Care Organization beats SeaStar Medical on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Pacific Health Care Organization

Pacific Health Care Organization, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty workers' compensation cost containment company in the United States. It is involved in managing and administering health care organizations (HCOs) and medical provider networks (MPNs). The company also provides claims-related services, including utilization review, medical case management, medical bill review, employee advocate services, workers' compensation carve-outs, expert witness testimony, and Medicare set-aside services. It serves insurers, third party administrators, self-administered employers, municipalities, and other industries. The company was formerly known as Clear Air, Inc. and changed its name to Pacific Health Care Organization, Inc. in January 2001. Pacific Health Care Organization, Inc. was incorporated in 1970 and is based in Irvine, California.