Financial Review: SSGI (OTCMKTS:VICP) vs. Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV)

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV) and SSGI (OTCMKTS:VICP) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hovnanian Enterprises and SSGI”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hovnanian Enterprises	$2.98 billion	0.23	$63.87 million	$7.49	15.25
SSGI	N/A	N/A	-$1.18 million	($0.04)	-37.50

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Hovnanian Enterprises and SSGI, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hovnanian Enterprises	1	3	0	0	1.75
SSGI	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hovnanian Enterprises currently has a consensus price target of $120.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.03%. Given Hovnanian Enterprises’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Hovnanian Enterprises is more favorable than SSGI.

Risk & Volatility

Hovnanian Enterprises has a beta of 2.2, indicating that its stock price is 120% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SSGI has a beta of 4.9, indicating that its stock price is 390% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Hovnanian Enterprises and SSGI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hovnanian Enterprises	2.14%	15.33%	4.08%
SSGI	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

65.4% of Hovnanian Enterprises shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Hovnanian Enterprises 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 will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Hovnanian Enterprises beats SSGI on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hovnanian Enterprises

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, constructs, markets, and sells residential homes in the United States. It offers single-family detached homes, attached townhomes and condominiums, urban infill, and active lifestyle homes with amenities, such as clubhouses, swimming pools, tennis courts, tot lots, and open areas. The company markets and builds homes for first-time buyers, first-time and second-time move-up buyers, luxury buyers, active lifestyle buyers, and empty nesters. It also provides mortgage loans, title insurance, and homeowner’s insurance services. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Matawan, New Jersey.

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.