Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) vs. Profound Medical (NASDAQ:PROF) Head to Head Contrast

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) and Profound Medical (NASDAQ:PROF) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cerus and Profound Medical”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cerus	$185.14 million	1.38	-$37.49 million	($0.10)	-13.40
Profound Medical	$11.86 million	12.69	-$28.57 million	($1.22)	-4.11

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Cerus and Profound Medical, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cerus	0	0	2	0	3.00
Profound Medical	0	0	2	0	3.00

Cerus presently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 161.19%. Profound Medical has a consensus target price of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 129.54%. Given Cerus’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Cerus is more favorable than Profound Medical.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.4% of Cerus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of Profound Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Cerus shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Profound Medical shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cerus and Profound Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cerus	-11.60%	-40.55%	-11.12%
Profound Medical	-349.41%	-85.22%	-64.87%

Volatility & Risk

Cerus has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Profound Medical has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cerus beats Profound Medical on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion. The company offers INTERCEPT Blood Systems for platelets and plasma, which is designed to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in platelets and plasma donated for transfusion; INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in red blood cells donated for transfusion; and INTERCEPT Blood System for Cryoprecipitation that uses its plasma system to produce pathogen reduced cryoprecipitated fibrinogen complex for the treatment and control of bleeding, including massive hemorrhage associated with fibrinogen deficiency, as well as pathogen reduced plasma, cryoprecipitate reduced. It sells platelet and plasma systems through its direct sales force and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, Latin America, and internationally. Cerus Corporation was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Concord, California.

About Profound Medical

Profound Medical Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a commercial-stage medical device company that develops and markets incision-free therapeutic systems for the image guided ablation of diseased tissue in Canada, Germany, the United States, and Finland. Its lead product TULSA-PRO system combines magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), robotically-driven transurethral sweeping action/thermal ultrasound and closed-loop temperature feedback control to provide precise, flexible, and durable ablation of a surgeon defined region of prostate and protect the urethra and rectum. The company also offers Sonalleve, which combines real-time MRI and thermometry for the treatment of uterine fibroids, adenomyotic tissue, palliative pain treatment of bone metastases, osteoid osteoma, and management of benign tumors. Profound Medical Corp. is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.