Analyzing Viewtran Group (OTCMKTS:VIEWF) & HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Viewtran Group (OTCMKTS:VIEWF) and HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Viewtran Group and HealthStream, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viewtran Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
HealthStream	1	2	0	0	1.67

HealthStream has a consensus price target of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.80%. Given HealthStream’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HealthStream is more favorable than Viewtran Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Viewtran Group and HealthStream”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viewtran Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
HealthStream	$304.06 million	2.29	$18.34 million	$0.67	35.54

HealthStream has higher revenue and earnings than Viewtran Group.

Profitability

This table compares Viewtran Group and HealthStream’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viewtran Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
HealthStream	6.39%	6.47%	4.44%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.6% of HealthStream shares are held by institutional investors. 29.2% of Viewtran Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.4% of HealthStream shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Viewtran Group has a beta of -31.28, meaning that its stock price is 3,228% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HealthStream has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

HealthStream beats Viewtran Group on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Viewtran Group

Viewtran Group, Inc. provides supply chain financial services and enterprise solutions for the technology industry in China. It offers software development and technical deployment services; and hardware, software, and technical services. The company was formerly known as Cogo Group, Inc. and changed its name to Viewtran Group, Inc. in November 2013. Viewtran Group, Inc. is based in Shenzhen, China.

About HealthStream

HealthStream, Inc. provides Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based applications for healthcare organizations in the United States. The company’s solutions help healthcare organizations in meeting their ongoing clinical development, talent management, training, education, assessment, competency management, safety and compliance, and scheduling, as well as provider credentialing, privileging, and enrollment needs. It offers hStream, a technology platform that powers a range of healthcare workforce solutions. The company provides its solutions to customers across a range of entities within the healthcare industry, including private, not-for-profit, and government entities, as well as pharmaceutical and medical device companies through its direct sales teams. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.