Reviewing Helius Medical Technologies (NASDAQ:HSDT) & Semler Scientific (NASDAQ:SMLR)

Helius Medical Technologies (NASDAQ:HSDT) and Semler Scientific (NASDAQ:SMLR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Helius Medical Technologies and Semler Scientific, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Helius Medical Technologies	0	0	1	0	3.00
Semler Scientific	0	0	0	1	4.00

Helius Medical Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2,841.90%. Given Helius Medical Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Helius Medical Technologies is more favorable than Semler Scientific.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.6% of Helius Medical Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.4% of Semler Scientific shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Helius Medical Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of Semler Scientific shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Helius Medical Technologies and Semler Scientific’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Helius Medical Technologies	-1,487.54%	-258.06%	-113.47%
Semler Scientific	25.62%	21.17%	19.40%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Helius Medical Technologies and Semler Scientific”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Helius Medical Technologies	$594,000.00	4.07	-$8.85 million	($13.04)	-0.06
Semler Scientific	$68.18 million	2.39	$20.58 million	$2.79	8.36

Semler Scientific has higher revenue and earnings than Helius Medical Technologies. Helius Medical Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Semler Scientific, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Helius Medical Technologies has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Semler Scientific has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Semler Scientific beats Helius Medical Technologies on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Helius Medical Technologies

Helius Medical Technologies, Inc., a neurotechnology company, focuses on developing, licensing, and acquiring non-implantable technologies for the treatment of symptoms caused by neurological disease or trauma. The company's product is Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator, a non-surgical medical device intended for use as a short term treatment of gait deficit due to symptoms from multiple sclerosis and balance deficit due to mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury, as well as to be used in conjunction with supervised therapeutic exercise. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

About Semler Scientific

Semler Scientific, Inc. provides technology solutions to enhance the clinical effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare providers in the United States. The company's products include QuantaFlo, a four-minute in-office blood flow test that enables healthcare providers to use blood flow measurements as part of their examinations of a patient's vascular condition. It also offers Insulin Insights, a software program that is used by a healthcare provider to optimize outpatient insulin dosing. The company's products serve cardiologists, internists, nephrologists, endocrinologists, podiatrists, family practitioners, healthcare insurance plans, integrated delivery networks, independent physician groups, and companies contracting with the healthcare industry, such as risk assessment groups and retailers. It offers its products through sales representatives and distributors. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.