Contrasting Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) and AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN)

AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN) and Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and risk.

Volatility & Risk

AMN Healthcare Services has a beta of 0.23, indicating that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zicix has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.2% of AMN Healthcare Services shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of AMN Healthcare Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AMN Healthcare Services and Zicix”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AMN Healthcare Services	$2.73 billion	0.30	-$95.70 million	($2.49)	-8.55
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A	($100.14)	-0.02

Zicix has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AMN Healthcare Services. AMN Healthcare Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zicix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for AMN Healthcare Services and Zicix, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AMN Healthcare Services	2	3	4	0	2.22
Zicix	0	0	0	0	0.00

AMN Healthcare Services currently has a consensus price target of $22.64, suggesting a potential upside of 6.35%. Given AMN Healthcare Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe AMN Healthcare Services is more favorable than Zicix.

Profitability

This table compares AMN Healthcare Services and Zicix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AMN Healthcare Services	-3.51%	8.05%	2.38%
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

AMN Healthcare Services beats Zicix on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AMN Healthcare Services

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: Nurse and Allied Solutions, Physician and Leadership Solutions, and Technology and Workforce Solutions. The Nurse and Allied Solutions segment offers travel nurse staffing, labor disruption staffing, local staffing, international nurse and allied permanent placement, and allied staffing solutions. The Physician and Leadership Solutions segment provides locum tenens staffing, healthcare interim leadership staffing, executive search, and physician permanent placement solutions. The Technology and Workforce Solutions segment offers language services, vendor management systems, workforce optimization, and outsourced solutions. The company also provides allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, medical and radiology technologists, lab technicians, speech pathologists, rehabilitation assistants, and pharmacists. It offers its services under the brands, including AMN Healthcare, Nursefinders, HealthSource Global Staffing, O'Grady Peyton International, Connetics, Medical Search International, DRW Healthcare Staffing, and B.E. Smith. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Zicix

Zicix Corporation, through its subsidiary, Texas Mobile Health, Inc., provides diagnostic medical imaging services in Houston, Texas. It offers cardiac diagnostic services, including echocardiogram, stress testing, carotid ultrasound, and halter and event monitoring services; medical services, such as general medical care, medical care for home health patients, general and immigration physicals, weight reduction, cold laser pain relief treatment, physical therapy, and anti-aging treatment; and MRI, CT, and X-Ray services. The company was formerly known as Bederra Corporation and changed its name to Zicix Corporation on February 8, 2011. Zicix Corporation was founded in 1979 and is based in Houston, Texas.