Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) vs. PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) Critical Review

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) and PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Guardian Pharmacy Services and PetMed Express”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Guardian Pharmacy Services	$1.17 billion	1.28	N/A	N/A	N/A
PetMed Express	$259.34 million	0.39	-$7.46 million	($0.06)	-80.83

Guardian Pharmacy Services has higher revenue and earnings than PetMed Express.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.3% of PetMed Express shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of PetMed Express shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Guardian Pharmacy Services and PetMed Express, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Guardian Pharmacy Services	0	0	3	0	3.00
PetMed Express	1	1	0	0	1.50

Guardian Pharmacy Services presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.98%. PetMed Express has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential downside of 27.84%. Given Guardian Pharmacy Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Guardian Pharmacy Services is more favorable than PetMed Express.

Profitability

This table compares Guardian Pharmacy Services and PetMed Express’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Guardian Pharmacy Services	N/A	N/A	N/A
PetMed Express	-0.37%	-1.00%	-0.60%

Summary

Guardian Pharmacy Services beats PetMed Express on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Guardian Pharmacy Services

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc., a pharmacy service company, provides a suite of technology-enabled services designed to help residents of long-term health care facilities (LTCFs) in the United States. Its individualized clinical, drug dispensing, and administration capabilities are used to serve the needs of residents in lower acuity LTCFs, such as assisted living facilities and behavioral health facilities and group homes. The company’s Guardian Compass includes dashboards created using data from its data warehouse to help its local pharmacies plan, track, and optimize their business operations; and GuardianShield Programs for LTCFs. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

About PetMed Express

PetMed Express, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a pet pharmacy in the United States. The company markets prescription and non-prescription pet medications, health products, and other supplies for dogs, cats, and horses. It offers non-prescription medications and supplies, such as flea and tick control products, bone and joint care products, vitamins, treats, nutritional supplements, hygiene products, and household pet supplies; and prescription medications, including heartworm preventatives, flea and tick preventatives, arthritis, dermatitis, thyroid, diabetes, pain medications, heart/blood pressure, and other specialty medications, as well as generic substitutes. The company also sells food, beds, crates, stairs, and other pet supplies. It sells its products through its Internet website; mobile app; customer support center; and direct mail/print, which includes brochures and postcards. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida.