Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) versus SSGI (OTCMKTS:VICP) Critical Analysis

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) and SSGI (OTCMKTS:VICP) are both construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Meritage Homes shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Meritage Homes shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of SSGI shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Meritage Homes and SSGI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meritage Homes	10.27%	12.37%	8.59%
SSGI	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Meritage Homes and SSGI, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meritage Homes	0	8	3	1	2.42
SSGI	0	0	0	0	0.00

Meritage Homes currently has a consensus price target of $84.86, indicating a potential upside of 27.68%. Given Meritage Homes’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Meritage Homes is more favorable than SSGI.

Risk & Volatility

Meritage Homes has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SSGI has a beta of 4.27, meaning that its share price is 327% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Meritage Homes and SSGI”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meritage Homes	$6.40 billion	0.74	$786.19 million	$11.12	5.98
SSGI	N/A	N/A	-$1.18 million	($0.04)	-44.25

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

Summary

Meritage Homes beats SSGI on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The company also offers title and escrow, mortgage, insurance, and closing/settlement services to its homebuyers. Meritage Homes Corporation was founded in 1985 and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

About SSGI

Vicapsys Life Sciences, Inc. focuses on the development and commercialization of VICAPSYN, a proprietary product. The company’s product is applied to transplantation therapies and related stem-cell applications in the transplantation field. It also develops VYBRIN, a product based on CXCL12 for prevention of post-surgical adhesions in abdominal surgery, coating of implantable medical devices and other implants to eliminate fibrosis, and wound healing with a focus on diabetic ulcers. The company was formerly known as Phage Therapeutics International, Inc. and changed its name to Vicapsys Life Sciences, Inc. in September 2017. Vicapsys Life Sciences, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Suwanee, Georgia.