Contrasting The Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) & Talkspace (NASDAQ:TALK)

Talkspace (NASDAQ:TALK) and The Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Talkspace and The Pennant Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talkspace	$150.04 million	2.60	-$19.18 million	($0.08)	-28.75
The Pennant Group	$544.89 million	1.28	$13.38 million	$0.54	42.94

The Pennant Group has higher revenue and earnings than Talkspace. Talkspace is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Pennant Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Talkspace and The Pennant Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talkspace	0	1	0	0	2.00
The Pennant Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Talkspace currently has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.43%. The Pennant Group has a consensus price target of $24.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.65%. Given Talkspace’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Talkspace is more favorable than The Pennant Group.

Profitability

This table compares Talkspace and The Pennant Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talkspace	-7.33%	-10.00%	-8.47%
The Pennant Group	2.86%	13.42%	3.63%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

57.4% of Talkspace shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.9% of The Pennant Group shares are held by institutional investors. 18.4% of Talkspace shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.8% of The Pennant Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Talkspace has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Pennant Group has a beta of 2.02, suggesting that its share price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

The Pennant Group beats Talkspace on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Talkspace

Talkspace, Inc. operates as a virtual behavioral healthcare company in the United States. The company offers psychotherapy and psychiatry services through its platform to individuals, enterprises, and health plans and employee assistance programs. It provides text, audio, and video-based psychotherapy from licensed therapists. The company offers Talkspace Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Talkspace Behavioral Health plan (BH) that provides online therapy to members through BH and EAP offerings; and Talkspace for Business for members to access its platform services on a benefit plan paid by the enterprise. It serves its platform through third-party platforms or marketplace, such as Apple App Store and Google Play App Store. Talkspace, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About The Pennant Group

The Pennant Group, Inc. provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Home Health and Hospice Services, and Senior Living Services. The company offers home health services, including clinical services, such as nursing, speech, occupational and physical therapy, medical social work, and home health aide services; and hospice services comprising clinical care, education, and counseling services for the physical, spiritual, and psychosocial needs of terminally ill patients and their families. It also provides senior living services, such as residential accommodations, activities, meals, housekeeping, and assistance in the activities of daily living to seniors who are independent or who require some support. The company operates home health, hospice, and home care agencies, as well as senior living communities throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The Pennant Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Eagle, Idaho.