Critical Contrast: GLG Life Tech (OTCMKTS:GLGLF) & Ascend Wellness (OTC:AAWH)

Ascend Wellness (OTC:AAWH – Get Rating) and GLG Life Tech (OTCMKTS:GLGLF – Get Rating) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ascend Wellness and GLG Life Tech, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascend Wellness	0	2	2	0	2.50
GLG Life Tech	0	0	0	0	N/A

Ascend Wellness currently has a consensus price target of $2.75, indicating a potential upside of 231.33%. Given Ascend Wellness’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ascend Wellness is more favorable than GLG Life Tech.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ascend Wellness and GLG Life Tech’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascend Wellness	$405.93 million	0.40	-$80.90 million	($0.38)	-2.18
GLG Life Tech	$8.40 million	0.05	-$25.42 million	($0.69)	-0.02

GLG Life Tech has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ascend Wellness. Ascend Wellness is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GLG Life Tech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Ascend Wellness has a beta of 2.63, indicating that its stock price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GLG Life Tech has a beta of 1.88, indicating that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Ascend Wellness shares are held by institutional investors. 17.5% of Ascend Wellness shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Ascend Wellness and GLG Life Tech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascend Wellness	-16.45%	-40.01%	-7.88%
GLG Life Tech	-358.36%	N/A	-150.71%

Summary

Ascend Wellness beats GLG Life Tech on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascend Wellness

(Get Rating)

Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. engages in the cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of cannabis consumer packaged goods. Its cannabis product categories include flowers, pre-rolls, concentrates, vapes, edibles, and other cannabis-related products. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 20 retail locations. It also sells its products to third-party licensed cannabis retail stores. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About GLG Life Tech

(Get Rating)

GLG Life Tech Corp engages in the agricultural and commercial development of zero-calorie natural sweeteners. Its products include stevia, monk fruit, and Red M Gold. It specializes in the growing, refining, and production of extracts for distribution to the food and beverage industry. The company was founded on June 5, 1998 and is headquartered in Richmond, Canada.