Critical Contrast: Assertio (NASDAQ:ASRT) vs. CannaPharmaRX (OTCMKTS:CPMD)

Assertio (NASDAQ:ASRT) and CannaPharmaRX (OTCMKTS:CPMD) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.0% of Assertio shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Assertio shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of CannaPharmaRX shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Assertio and CannaPharmaRX”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assertio	$132.19 million	0.82	-$331.94 million	($3.95)	-0.29
CannaPharmaRX	N/A	N/A	$3.69 million	($0.01)	-0.82

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

Volatility & Risk

Assertio has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CannaPharmaRX has a beta of 2.38, suggesting that its stock price is 138% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Assertio and CannaPharmaRX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assertio	-261.08%	4.88%	2.37%
CannaPharmaRX	N/A	N/A	-55.33%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Assertio and CannaPharmaRX, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assertio	0	0	4	0	3.00
CannaPharmaRX	0	0	0	0	N/A

Assertio presently has a consensus price target of $3.44, indicating a potential upside of 201.54%. Given Assertio’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Assertio is more favorable than CannaPharmaRX.

Summary

Assertio beats CannaPharmaRX on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Assertio

Assertio Holdings, Inc., a commercial pharmaceutical company, provides various products to patients in the United States. Its pharmaceutical products include INDOCIN, an oral and suppository solution for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, including acute flares of chronic disease; ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis; and acute painful shoulder and gouty arthritis. It also provides Sympazan, a benzodiazepine for the adjunctive treatment of seizures related with lennox-gastaut syndrome in patients aged two years of age or older; CAMBIA, a non steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the treatment of migraine pain, nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia; Zipsor, a NSAID for relief of mild to moderate pain in adults; SPRIX, a NSAID for the short term management of moderate to moderately severe pain that requires analgesia at the opioid level; Otrexup, a single-dose auto-injector containing a prescription medicine and methotrexate that is used to treat patients with severe, active rheumatoid arthritis, and active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, as well as treat adult with severe, recalcitrant, and disabling psoriasis; and ROLVEDON, a long-acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factor that is indicated to decrease the incidence of infection caused by febrile neutropenia. The company was formerly known as Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Assertio Holdings, Inc. in May 2020. Assertio Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois.

About CannaPharmaRX

CannaPharmaRX, Inc. operates in the cannabis industry in Canada. It evaluates, negotiates, acquires, and develops various cannabis cultivation projects. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Calgary, Canada.