Head to Head Review: Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN) & CorMedix (NASDAQ:CRMD)

Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN) and CorMedix (NASDAQ:CRMD) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Amarin and CorMedix, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amarin	2	0	0	1	2.00
CorMedix	0	2	7	0	2.78

Amarin presently has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.36%. CorMedix has a consensus target price of $14.62, suggesting a potential upside of 158.62%. Given CorMedix’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CorMedix is more favorable than Amarin.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.3% of Amarin shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.2% of CorMedix shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of Amarin shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of CorMedix shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Amarin and CorMedix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amarin	-10.87%	-0.52%	-0.36%
CorMedix	40.49%	40.52%	20.61%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Amarin and CorMedix”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amarin	$213.65 million	1.22	-$38.80 million	($0.96)	-12.85
CorMedix	$311.71 million	1.41	$163.05 million	$2.14	2.64

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

Volatility and Risk

Amarin has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CorMedix has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

CorMedix beats Amarin on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amarin

Amarin Corporation plc, a pharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the United States, European countries, Canada, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. The company offers VASCEPA, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid product, used as an adjunct to diet for reducing triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia. It sells its products principally to wholesalers and specialty pharmacy providers. The company has a collaboration with Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to develop and commercialize drug products and indications based on the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Vascepa. The company was formerly known as Ethical Holdings plc and changed its name to Amarin Corporation plc in 1999. Amarin Corporation plc was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About CorMedix

CorMedix Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapeutic products for the prevention and treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases in the United States. Its lead product candidate is DefenCath, an antimicrobial catheter lock solution to reduce the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections in adult patients with kidney failure. The company was formerly known as Picton Holding Company, Inc. and changed its name to CorMedix, Inc. in January 2007. CorMedix Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.