Critical Survey: Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) and Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

Zicix (OTCMKTS:ZICXD) and Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Zicix and Sotera Health, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zicix	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sotera Health	0	3	8	0	2.73

Sotera Health has a consensus target price of $20.43, indicating a potential upside of 51.32%. Given Sotera Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sotera Health is more favorable than Zicix.

Volatility and Risk

Zicix has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sotera Health has a beta of 1.84, suggesting that its share price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Zicix and Sotera Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sotera Health	6.70%	42.38%	6.91%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.0% of Sotera Health shares are held by institutional investors. 47.6% of Sotera Health shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Zicix and Sotera Health”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zicix	N/A	N/A	N/A	($100.14)	-0.01
Sotera Health	$1.16 billion	3.30	$77.94 million	$0.27	50.00

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

Summary

Sotera Health beats Zicix on 12 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Sotera Health

Sotera Health Company engages in the provision of sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Sterigenics, Nordion, and Nelson Labs. It provides mission-critical end-to-end sterilization services, including gamma and electron beam irradiation, and ethylene oxide processing, as well as designs, installs, and maintains gamma irradiation systems. The company also provides microbiological and analytical chemistry testing, as well as technical assistance, regulatory consulting, and advisory services. It serves medical devices, pharmaceuticals, food safety, agricultural products, cancer treatment, and high-performance materials industries, as well as commercial, advanced, and specialty application industries. The company was formerly known as Sotera Health Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Sotera Health Company in October 2020. Sotera Health Company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Broadview Heights, Ohio.