Contrasting LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD) & Sonida Senior Living (NYSE:SNDA)

Sonida Senior Living (NYSE:SNDA) and LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Sonida Senior Living has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LifeMD has a beta of 2.19, indicating that its share price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.6% of Sonida Senior Living shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.5% of LifeMD shares are held by institutional investors. 39.3% of Sonida Senior Living shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.2% of LifeMD shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sonida Senior Living and LifeMD”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sonida Senior Living	$638.13 million	2.47	-$70.78 million	($5.35)	-6.13
LifeMD	$191.59 million	0.60	$14.35 million	($0.05)	-47.40

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Sonida Senior Living and LifeMD, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sonida Senior Living	2	1	6	0	2.44
LifeMD	1	1	8	0	2.70

Sonida Senior Living presently has a consensus price target of $48.67, suggesting a potential upside of 48.39%. LifeMD has a consensus price target of $7.57, suggesting a potential upside of 219.47%. Given LifeMD’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe LifeMD is more favorable than Sonida Senior Living.

Profitability

This table compares Sonida Senior Living and LifeMD’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sonida Senior Living	-20.34%	-20.20%	-5.90%
LifeMD	0.10%	-168.23%	-31.27%

About Sonida Senior Living

Sonida Senior Living, Inc. develops, owns, operates, and manages senior housing communities in the United States. The company provides independent living services, which include daily meals, transportation, social and recreational activities, laundry, housekeeping, and 24-hour staffing; and access to health screenings, periodic special services, and dietary and similar programs, as well as exercise and fitness classes. It also offers assisted living services consist of personal care services, such as assistance with activities of daily living, including ambulation, bathing, dressing, eating, grooming, personal hygiene, and monitoring or assistance with medications; support services, such as meals, assistance with social and recreational activities, laundry, general housekeeping, maintenance, and transportation services; and supplemental services, which include extra transportation, personal maintenance, and extra laundry services, as well as special care services for residents with various forms of dementia. In addition, the company provides memory care services; and home care services through third-party providers. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 75 senior housing communities in 18 states with an aggregate capacity of approximately 9,500 residents, including 60 senior housing communities. The company was formerly known as Capital Senior Living Corporation and changed its name to Sonida Senior Living, Inc. in November 2021. Sonida Senior Living, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is based in Addison, Texas.

About LifeMD

LifeMD, Inc. operates as a direct-to-patient telehealth company that connects consumers to healthcare professionals for medical care in the United States. The company offers telehealth platform comprising RexMD, a men's telehealth brand that provides access to virtual medical treatment for a variety of men's health needs from licensed physician; ShapiroMD that provides virtual medical treatment, prescription medications, patented doctor formulated OTC products, topical compounded medications, and medical devices treating male and female hair loss; NavaMD, a female-oriented tele-dermatology that offers virtual medical treatment from dermatologists and other providers; and prescription oral and compounded topical medications to treat aging and acne; and Cleared which provides personalized treatments for allergy, asthma and immunology, including in-home tests for both environmental and food allergies, prescriptions for allergies and asthma and immunotherapies for treating chronic allergies. It also provides LifeMD PC, a direct-to-consumer virtual primary care which includes 24/7 access to a provider for their primary care, urgent care, and chronic care needs; and offers virtual consultations and treatment, prescription medications, diagnostics and imaging, wellness coaching, and more. In addition, the company offers PDFSimpli, an online software as a service platform that allows users to create, edit, convert, sign, and share PDF documents; ResumeBuild which provides digital resume and cover letter services; SignSimpli, a digital signature platform; and LegalSimpli, a provider of legal forms for consumers and small businesses. It sells its products directly to consumers and through e-commerce platforms, as well as through third party partner channels. The company was formerly known as Conversion Labs, Inc. and changed its name to LifeMD, Inc. in February 2021. LifeMD, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in New York, New York.