Reviewing Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD) and Unicycive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UNCY)

Unicycive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UNCY) and Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Unicycive Therapeutics and Vireo Growth, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unicycive Therapeutics	1	1	5	0	2.57
Vireo Growth	1	0	0	0	1.00

Unicycive Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $18.75, indicating a potential upside of 293.08%. Given Unicycive Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Unicycive Therapeutics is more favorable than Vireo Growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

40.4% of Unicycive Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 6.0% of Unicycive Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Vireo Growth shares are held by 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

Unicycive Therapeutics has a beta of 1.79, suggesting that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vireo Growth has a beta of 1.78, suggesting that its share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unicycive Therapeutics	N/A	-91.50%	-61.47%
Vireo Growth	-23.37%	-19.76%	-7.15%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Unicycive Therapeutics and Vireo Growth”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unicycive Therapeutics	$680,000.00	195.36	-$26.56 million	($1.75)	-2.73
Vireo Growth	$268.77 million	1.68	-$68.11 million	($3.30)	-3.02

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

Summary

Unicycive Therapeutics beats Vireo Growth on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Unicycive Therapeutics

Unicycive Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in developing novel therapies for kidney diseases in the United States. It is developing Renazorb for treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis; and UNI 494, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treatment of acute kidney injury. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Los Altos, California.

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.