Reviewing Veru (NASDAQ:VERU) & Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD)

Veru (NASDAQ:VERU) and Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Veru has a beta of -1.21, meaning that its stock price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vireo Growth has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Veru and Vireo Growth’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veru	N/A	-47.58%	-35.83%
Vireo Growth	-23.37%	-19.76%	-7.15%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Veru and Vireo Growth”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veru	$16.89 million	2.23	-$22.73 million	($0.69)	-3.20
Vireo Growth	$268.77 million	1.68	-$68.11 million	($3.30)	-3.02

Veru has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vireo Growth. Veru is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vireo Growth, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Veru and Vireo Growth, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veru	1	0	3	0	2.50
Vireo Growth	1	0	0	0	1.00

Veru currently has a consensus price target of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 1,008.60%. Given Veru’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Veru is more favorable than Vireo Growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.2% of Veru shares are held by institutional investors. 14.2% of Veru shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Vireo Growth shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Veru beats Vireo Growth on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Veru

Veru Inc., a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing medicines for treatment of metabolic diseases, oncology, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Its marketed products comprise FC2 female condom for the dual protection against unplanned pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. The company’s development program includes enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator for treatment of augment fat loss and to prevent muscle loss in sarcopenic obese and overweight elderly patients; Enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator for the treatment of AR+ ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer; and sabizabulin, a microtubule disruptor for the treatment of hospitalized patients with viral lung infection on oxygen support who are at high risk for viral induced ARDS and death. The company was formerly known as The Female Health Company and changed its name to Veru Inc. in July 2017. Veru Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Vireo Growth

Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. operates as a cannabis company in the United States. The company cultivates, processes, and distributes medical and adult-use cannabis products. It sells cannabis products through its network of Green Goods and other Goodness Growth branded retail dispensaries and third-party dispensaries in Maryland, Minnesota, and New York. The company was formerly known as Vireo Health International Inc. and changed its name to Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. in June 2021. Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.