Plus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PSTV – Get Free Report) and Artivion (NYSE:AORT – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Plus Therapeutics and Artivion”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Plus Therapeutics | $4.91 million | 2.15 | -$13.32 million | ($3.04) | -0.61 |
| Artivion | $354.00 million | 3.18 | -$30.69 million | ($0.24) | -111.92 |
Plus Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Artivion. Artivion is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Plus Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Plus Therapeutics | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Artivion | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
Plus Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 656.76%. Artivion has a consensus target price of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.69%. Given Plus Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Plus Therapeutics is more favorable than Artivion.
Volatility and Risk
Plus Therapeutics has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Artivion has a beta of 1.74, suggesting that its share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Plus Therapeutics and Artivion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Plus Therapeutics | -240.15% | -805.57% | -127.52% |
| Artivion | -2.22% | 3.81% | 1.39% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
3.3% of Plus Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of Artivion shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Plus Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Artivion shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Artivion beats Plus Therapeutics on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Plus Therapeutics
Plus Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of treatments for patients with cancer. Its lead radiotherapeutic drug candidate is rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda, a patented radiotherapy that targets central nervous system cancers and other cancers, including recurrent glioblastoma, leptomeningeal metastases, and pediatric brain cancers. The company also develops Rhenium-188 NanoLiposome Biodegradable Alginate Microsphere that is designed to treat various solid organ cancers comprising primary and secondary liver cancers by intra-arterial injection. It has license agreements with NanoTx, Corp. and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The company was formerly known as Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Plus Therapeutics, Inc. in July 2019. Plus Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
About Artivion
Artivion, Inc. manufactures, processes, and distributes medical devices and implantable human tissues worldwide. The company provides BioGlue, a polymer consisting of bovine blood protein and an agent for cross-linking proteins for cardiac, vascular, neurologic, and pulmonary procedures; cardiac preservation services; PhotoFix, a bovine pericardial patch; and aortic arch stent grafts including E-vita Open Plus and E-vita Open Neo. It offers E-xtra design engineering systems for the treatment of aortic vascular diseases; E-nside, an off-the-shelf stent graft for the treatment of thoraco-abdominal disease; E-vita THORACIC 3G for the endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms; E-ventus BX, a balloon-expandable peripheral stent graft for the endovascular treatment of renal and pelvic arteries; E-liac to treat aneurysmal iliac arteries, and aneurysmal iliac side branches; and E-tegra, a stent graft system for the treatment of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. In addition, the company offers synthetic vascular grafts for use in open aortic and peripheral vascular surgical procedures; PerClot, an absorbable powdered hemostat for use in surgical procedures; cardiac laser therapy products for angina treatment; CryoVein femoral vein and CryoArtery femoral artery vascular preservation services; On-X prosthetic aortic and mitral heart valves and the On-X ascending aortic prosthesis; CarbonAid CO2 diffusion catheters and Chord-X ePTFE sutures for mitral chordal replacement; and ascyrus medical dissection stents, as well as pyrolytic carbon coating services to medical device manufacturers. It serves physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities, as well as cardiac, vascular, thoracic, and general surgeons. The company was formerly known as CryoLife, Inc. and changed its name to Artivion, Inc. in January 2022. Artivion, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia.
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