Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON – Get Free Report) and Kiora Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KPRX – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
8.7% of Cronos Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.0% of Kiora Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of Cronos Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Kiora Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Cronos Group and Kiora Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cronos Group | -6.44% | -1.12% | -1.07% |
| Kiora Pharmaceuticals | N/A | -51.37% | -36.09% |
Volatility & Risk
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Cronos Group and Kiora Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cronos Group | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.20 |
| Kiora Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Cronos Group presently has a consensus price target of $2.30, indicating a potential downside of 10.51%. Kiora Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 309.84%. Given Kiora Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Kiora Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Cronos Group.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Cronos Group and Kiora Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cronos Group | $146.59 million | 6.60 | -$9.45 million | ($0.01) | -257.00 |
| Kiora Pharmaceuticals | $16.02 million | 0.60 | -$10.84 million | ($2.65) | -0.92 |
Cronos Group has higher revenue and earnings than Kiora Pharmaceuticals. Cronos Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kiora Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Cronos Group beats Kiora Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cronos Group
Cronos Group Inc. operates as a cannabinoid company that engages in the cultivation, production and marketing of cannabis products in Canada, Israel, and Germany. It offers dried flower, pre-rolls, oils, vaporizers, edibles, and cannabis tinctures under the Spinach, Lord Jones, and PEACE NATURALS brands. Cronos Group Inc. was founded in 2012 and is based in Toronto, Canada.
About Kiora Pharmaceuticals
Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes therapies for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases in the United States. Its lead product is KIO-301, a potential vision-restoring small molecule, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial that acts as a photoswitch to restore vision in patients with inherited and age-related degenerative retinal diseases. The company is also developing KIO-101, an eye drop that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of ocular presentation of rheumatoid arthritis, and KIO-104 for the treatment of posterior non-infectious uveitis; and KIO-201, an eye drop, which is in Phase 3b clinical trial for treating patients undergoing photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) surgery for corneal wound repair. The company was formerly known as Eyegate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in November 2021. Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Encinitas, California.
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