Financial Contrast: U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) and Viemed Healthcare (NASDAQ:VMD)

Viemed Healthcare (NASDAQ:VMD) and U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Viemed Healthcare has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Physical Therapy has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Viemed Healthcare and U.S. Physical Therapy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viemed Healthcare	4.81%	10.16%	7.22%
U.S. Physical Therapy	3.97%	9.39%	3.65%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Viemed Healthcare and U.S. Physical Therapy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viemed Healthcare	$270.28 million	1.29	$14.93 million	$0.36	25.36
U.S. Physical Therapy	$780.99 million	1.60	$39.58 million	$0.17	493.17

U.S. Physical Therapy has higher revenue and earnings than Viemed Healthcare. Viemed Healthcare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than U.S. Physical Therapy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Viemed Healthcare and U.S. Physical Therapy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viemed Healthcare	0	3	1	0	2.25
U.S. Physical Therapy	0	2	4	1	2.86

Viemed Healthcare presently has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 53.34%. U.S. Physical Therapy has a consensus target price of $98.25, indicating a potential upside of 17.19%. Given Viemed Healthcare’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Viemed Healthcare is more favorable than U.S. Physical Therapy.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.2% of Viemed Healthcare shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.6% of Viemed Healthcare shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of U.S. Physical Therapy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

U.S. Physical Therapy beats Viemed Healthcare on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Viemed Healthcare

Viemed Healthcare, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides home medical equipment (HME) and post-acute respiratory healthcare services to patients in the United States. It provides respiratory disease management solutions, including treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which include non-invasive ventilation, percussion vests, and other therapies; and invasive and non-invasive ventilation and related equipment and supplies to patients suffering from COPD. The company leases non-invasive and invasive ventilators, positive airway pressure machines (PAP), durable medical equipment, percussion vests, oxygen concentrators, and other medical equipment; and sells and rents HME devices. In addition, it provides neuromuscular care and oxygen therapy services; and sleep apnea management provides sleep solutions and/or equipment, such as PAP, automatic continuous positive airway pressure, and bi-level positive airway pressure machines. Further, the company offers in home sleep apnea testing services, as well as healthcare staffing and recruitment services. Viemed Healthcare, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. operates outpatient physical therapy clinics. The company operates through Physical Therapy Operations and Industrial Injury Prevention Services segments. The company provides pre-and post-operative care and treatment for orthopedic-related disorders, sports-related injuries, preventative care, rehabilitation of injured workers, and neurological-related injuries. It offers industrial injury prevention services, including onsite injury prevention and rehabilitation, performance optimization, post-offer employment testing, functional capacity evaluations, and ergonomic assessments through physical therapists and specialized certified athletic trainers for Fortune 500 companies, and other clients comprising insurers and their contractors. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is based in Houston, Texas.