Financial Survey: Guided Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:GTHP) and Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO)

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) and Guided Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:GTHP) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.9% of Perrigo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Guided Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Perrigo shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 66.8% of Guided Therapeutics 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.

Profitability

This table compares Perrigo and Guided Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perrigo	-43.50%	9.96%	3.90%
Guided Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-274.24%

Volatility and Risk

Perrigo has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Guided Therapeutics has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Perrigo and Guided Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perrigo	1	4	1	0	2.00
Guided Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Perrigo currently has a consensus price target of $19.33, indicating a potential upside of 82.65%. Given Perrigo’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Perrigo is more favorable than Guided Therapeutics.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Perrigo and Guided Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perrigo	$4.18 billion	0.35	-$1.43 billion	($13.10)	-0.81
Guided Therapeutics	$770,000.00	37.61	-$3.20 million	($0.04)	-7.50

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

Summary

Perrigo beats Guided Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perrigo

Perrigo Company plc provides over-the-counter health and wellness solutions to enhance individual well-being in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Consumer Self-Care Americas and Consumer Self-Care International segments. The company develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes self-care consumer products, such as upper respiratory products, including cough suppressants, expectorants, and sinus and allergy relief; nutrition products consisting of infant formulas and nutritional beverages; digestive health products, including antacids, anti-diarrheal, and anti-heartburn; pain and sleep-aids products comprising pain relievers and fever reducers; and oral care products, which include toothbrushes, toothbrush replacement heads, floss, flossers, whitening products, and toothbrush covers. It also offers healthy lifestyle products, such as smoking cessation, well-being, and weight management products; skin care products consisting of dermatological care, scar management, lice treatment, and other products for various skin conditions; women's health products comprising feminine hygiene and contraceptives; vitamins, minerals, and supplements; rare diseases business; and other miscellaneous self-care products. The company sells its products under the Compeed, Dr. Fresh, Firefly, Good Sense, Good Start, Mederma, Nasonex, Plackers, Prevacid24HR, REACH, Rembrandt, Steripod, Opill, Solpadeine, Coldrex, Physiomer, NiQuitin, ACO, ellaOne, Compeed Stops, XLS, Arterin, Davitamon, Apiserum, Abtei, and Nicorette brands. It also offers contract manufacturing services. The company sells its products through retail drug, supermarket, and mass merchandise chains; e-commerce stores; wholesalers; pharmacies; drug and grocery retailers; and para-pharmacies. The company was formerly known as Perrigo Company and changed its name to Perrigo Company plc in December 2013. Perrigo Company plc was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About Guided Therapeutics

Guided Therapeutics, Inc., a medical technology company, focuses on developing medical devices. It focuses on the commercialization of LuViva, a non-invasive cervical cancer detection device that identifies cervical cancers and precancers painlessly, non-invasively, and at the point-of-care by scanning the cervix with light, then analyzing the light reflected and fluorescent light. The company was formerly known as SpectRx, Inc. and changed its name to Guided Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2008. Guided Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is based in Norcross, Georgia.