Head-To-Head Survey: Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD) versus Veru (NASDAQ:VERU)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

47.2% of Veru shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Vireo Growth shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.2% of Veru shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vireo Growth and Veru”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vireo Growth	$268.77 million	1.68	-$68.11 million	($3.30)	-3.02
Veru	$16.89 million	2.25	-$22.73 million	($0.69)	-3.23

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Vireo Growth and Veru, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vireo Growth	1	0	0	0	1.00
Veru	1	0	3	0	2.50

Veru has a consensus target price of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 998.65%. Given Veru’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Veru is more favorable than Vireo Growth.

Volatility and Risk

Vireo Growth has a beta of 1.78, indicating that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Veru has a beta of -1.21, indicating that its stock price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vireo Growth	-23.37%	-19.76%	-7.15%
Veru	N/A	-47.58%	-35.83%

Summary

Veru beats Vireo Growth on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Veru

Veru Inc., a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing medicines for treatment of metabolic diseases, oncology, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Its marketed products comprise FC2 female condom for the dual protection against unplanned pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. The company’s development program includes enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator for treatment of augment fat loss and to prevent muscle loss in sarcopenic obese and overweight elderly patients; Enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator for the treatment of AR+ ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer; and sabizabulin, a microtubule disruptor for the treatment of hospitalized patients with viral lung infection on oxygen support who are at high risk for viral induced ARDS and death. The company was formerly known as The Female Health Company and changed its name to Veru Inc. in July 2017. Veru Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.