Research Solutions (NASDAQ:RSSS) and MultiPlan (NYSE:MPLN) Financial Review

MultiPlan (NYSE:MPLN) and Research Solutions (NASDAQ:RSSS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares MultiPlan and Research Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MultiPlan	-9.54%	-8.31%	-2.05%
Research Solutions	-1.05%	-4.96%	-1.63%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.2% of MultiPlan shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.6% of Research Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of MultiPlan shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 26.5% of Research Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for MultiPlan and Research Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MultiPlan	0	0	0	0	N/A
Research Solutions	0	0	2	0	3.00

MultiPlan presently has a consensus price target of $2.00, indicating a potential upside of 261.53%. Research Solutions has a consensus price target of $4.68, indicating a potential upside of 55.83%. Given MultiPlan’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe MultiPlan is more favorable than Research Solutions.

Risk & Volatility

MultiPlan has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Research Solutions has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MultiPlan and Research Solutions’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MultiPlan	$961.52 million	0.37	-$91.70 million	($0.15)	-3.69
Research Solutions	$37.70 million	2.60	$570,000.00	($0.02)	-150.00

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

Summary

Research Solutions beats MultiPlan on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MultiPlan

MultiPlan Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides data analytics and technology-enabled cost management, payment, and revenue integrity solutions to the healthcare industry in the United States. The company offers analytics-based services that reduce medical costs, through data-driven algorithms and insights that detect claims over-charges and negotiate or recommend reimbursement; and network-based services that provide contracted discounts with healthcare providers, as well as outsourced network development and management services. It provides payment and revenue integrity services, such as identifying and removing improper and unnecessary charges paid during the claim, as well as services to identify and help restore and preserve underpaid premium dollars. In addition, the company offers data and decision science services including a suite of solutions that apply modern methods of data science to produce descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics that drive optimized benefit plan design, support decision-making, improve clinical outcomes, and reduce the total cost of care; and business-to-business healthcare payments and other services. It serves national and regional insurance companies, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, provider-sponsored and independent health plans, TPAs, self-insured health plans, property and casualty insurers, bill review companies, and other companies involved in the claim adjudication process. MultiPlan Corporation was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Research Solutions

Research Solutions, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based software-as-a-service research platform. The company is also involved in the transactional sale of published scientific, technical, and medical (STM) content managed, sourced, and delivered through the Transactions platform. Its solutions enable life science and other research intensive organizations to accelerate their research and development activities with access and management STM articles used throughout the intellectual property development lifecycle. The company was formerly known as Derycz Scientific, Inc. and changed its name to Research Solutions, Inc. in March 2013. Research Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Henderson, Nevada.