Head to Head Analysis: Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) versus Paragon 28 (NYSE:FNA)

Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) and Paragon 28 (NYSE:FNA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Aethlon Medical has a beta of 1.93, meaning that its share price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paragon 28 has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.0% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.6% of Paragon 28 shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.3% of Paragon 28 shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Aethlon Medical and Paragon 28’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aethlon Medical	N/A	-153.96%	-109.13%
Paragon 28	-25.31%	-37.90%	-18.22%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aethlon Medical and Paragon 28″s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aethlon Medical	$570,000.00	11.67	-$12.21 million	($1.58)	-0.26
Paragon 28	$256.18 million	4.29	-$57.53 million	($0.63)	-20.80

Aethlon Medical has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Paragon 28. Paragon 28 is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aethlon Medical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Aethlon Medical and Paragon 28, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aethlon Medical	0	0	1	0	3.00
Paragon 28	0	4	1	0	2.20

Aethlon Medical currently has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,590.00%. Paragon 28 has a consensus target price of $12.75, suggesting a potential downside of 2.71%. Given Aethlon Medical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Aethlon Medical is more favorable than Paragon 28.

Summary

Aethlon Medical beats Paragon 28 on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical, Inc., a medical therapeutic company, focuses on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases in the United States. It develops Hemopurifier, a clinical-stage immunotherapeutic device that removes tumor-derived exosomes and life-threatening viruses and use in organ transplantation. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in San Diego, California.

About Paragon 28

Paragon 28, Inc. develops, distributes, and sells foot and ankle surgical systems in the United States and internationally. It offers plating systems, including gorilla plating systems, such as lisfranc, lapidus, lateral column, calcaneus slide, and naviculocuneiform (NC) fusion plating systems; baby gorilla plate-specific screws, navicular fracture plates, and 5th metatarsal hook plates; and silverback plating systems. The company also provides precision guide technology for various procedures consisting of fusion, a procedure to address bunion deformities that fuses two bones on the big toe; first tarsometatarsal arthrodesis; and metatarsal osteotomy for bunion correction, medial column beaming for charcot foot reconstruction, ankle fusion plating, and NC joint arthrodesis. In addition, it offers monster, mini monster, and joust beaming screw systems for use in bone reconstruction, osteotomy, arthrodesis, joint fusion, ligament fixation, fracture repair, and fracture fixation; APEX 3D total ankle replacement systems; and total talus spacers to replace the talus and bone in the ankle that connects the leg and foot. Further, the company provides forefoot or hallux valgus correction systems, including phantom intramedullary nail systems for the treatment of severe hallux valgus; and various orthobiologics comprising bone wedges, grafts, demineralized bone matrices, bone void fillers, synthetic materials, amniotic products, and a biocompatible collagen matrix, as well as PRESERVE bone graft systems for homologous application. Additionally, it offers soft tissue fixation systems, titanium sprayed polyetheretherketone implants, nitinol staple systems, stabilization systems, and curved instruments. The company serves hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers through a network of sales representatives and stocking distributors. Paragon 28, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.