Critical Analysis: Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) versus OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK)

OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK) and Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for OPKO Health and Zicix, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OPKO Health	1	4	1	0	2.00
Zicix	0	0	0	0	0.00

OPKO Health presently has a consensus target price of $1.55, indicating a potential upside of 14.81%. Given OPKO Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe OPKO Health is more favorable than Zicix.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.6% of OPKO Health shares are held by institutional investors. 44.7% of OPKO Health shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

OPKO Health has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its stock price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zicix has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares OPKO Health and Zicix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OPKO Health	-12.40%	-5.88%	-3.83%
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares OPKO Health and Zicix”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OPKO Health	$587.90 million	1.71	-$225.68 million	($0.09)	-15.00
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A	($100.14)	-0.00

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

Summary

OPKO Health beats Zicix on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OPKO Health

OPKO Health, Inc., a healthcare company, engages in the diagnostics and pharmaceuticals businesses in the United States, Ireland, Chile, Spain, Israel, Mexico, and internationally. The company's Diagnostics segment operates BioReference Laboratories that offers laboratory testing services for the detection, diagnosis, evaluation, monitoring, and treatment of diseases, including esoteric testing, molecular diagnostics, anatomical pathology, genetics, women's health, and correctional healthcare to physician offices, clinics, hospitals, employers, and governmental units; and 4Kscore prostate cancer test. Its Pharmaceutical segment offers Rayaldee to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in adults with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease, and vitamin D insufficiency. This segment also develops multi-specific immune therapies focused on oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, and immunology; OPK88004, an orally administered selective androgen receptor modulator; OPK88003, a once-weekly administered peptide for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and related obesity; Somatrogon (hGH-CTP), a once-weekly human growth hormone injection; and Factor VIIa-CTP, a novel long-acting coagulation factor being developed to treat hemophilia. In addition, it develops and commercializes longer-acting proprietary versions of already approved therapeutic proteins; develops and produces specialty APIs; develops, manufactures, markets, and sells pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, veterinary, and ophthalmic products; commercializes food supplements and over the counter products; manufactures and sells products primarily in the generics market; and markets, distributes, and sells pharmaceutical products in a range of indications, including cardiovascular products, vaccines, antibiotics, gastro-intestinal products, hormones, and others. The company also operates pharmaceutical platforms in Ireland, Chile, Spain, and Mexico. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Zicix

Zicix Corporation, through its subsidiary, Texas Mobile Health, Inc., provides diagnostic medical imaging services in Houston, Texas. It offers cardiac diagnostic services, including echocardiogram, stress testing, carotid ultrasound, and halter and event monitoring services; medical services, such as general medical care, medical care for home health patients, general and immigration physicals, weight reduction, cold laser pain relief treatment, physical therapy, and anti-aging treatment; and MRI, CT, and X-Ray services. The company was formerly known as Bederra Corporation and changed its name to Zicix Corporation on February 8, 2011. Zicix Corporation was founded in 1979 and is based in Houston, Texas.