Comparing Issuer Direct (NYSE:ISDR) and Pharma-Bio Serv (OTCMKTS:PBSV)

Issuer Direct (NYSE:ISDR) and Pharma-Bio Serv (OTCMKTS:PBSV) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Issuer Direct and Pharma-Bio Serv’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Issuer Direct	2.29%	10.90%	5.82%
Pharma-Bio Serv	4.05%	3.95%	3.10%

Risk and Volatility

Issuer Direct has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pharma-Bio Serv has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Issuer Direct and Pharma-Bio Serv’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Issuer Direct	$33.38 million	1.34	$770,000.00	$0.20	58.60
Pharma-Bio Serv	$16.98 million	1.16	$1.31 million	$0.03	28.61

Pharma-Bio Serv has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Issuer Direct. Pharma-Bio Serv is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Issuer Direct, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

50.0% of Issuer Direct shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.1% of Issuer Direct shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Pharma-Bio Serv shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Issuer Direct and Pharma-Bio Serv, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Issuer Direct	0	0	0	0	N/A
Pharma-Bio Serv	0	0	0	0	N/A

Issuer Direct presently has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 130.38%. Given Issuer Direct’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Issuer Direct is more favorable than Pharma-Bio Serv.

Summary

Issuer Direct beats Pharma-Bio Serv on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Issuer Direct

Issuer Direct Corporation operates as a communications and compliance company, provides solutions for both public relations and investor relations professionals in the United States and internationally. The company provides press release distribution, media databases, media monitoring, and newsrooms through media advantage platform; ACCESSWIRE, a news dissemination and media outreach service; and Webcaster Platform, a cloud-based webcast, webinar, and virtual meeting platform that delivers live and on-demand streaming of events to audiences of various sizes, as well as allows customers to create, produce, and deliver events. It also offers professional conference and events software, a mobile app that offers organizers, issuers, and investors to register, request, and approve one-on-one meetings, as well as manage schedules, perform event promotion and sponsorship, print attendee badges, and manage lodging; and investor relations content network, a series of data feeds, which include news feeds, stock feeds, fundamentals, regulatory filings, corporate governance, and other components. In addition, the company provides whistleblower hotline, a system that delivers secure notifications and basic incident workflow management processes that align with a company's corporate governance whistleblower policy; stock transfer module, which offers access to real-time information about their shareholders, stock ledgers, and reports, as well as issues new shares; and proxy module, a real-time voting platform for customers and their shareholders of record. It serves public and private companies, mutual funds, law firms, brokerage firms, investment banks, individuals, and other institutions. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

About Pharma-Bio Serv

Pharma-Bio Serv, Inc. operates as a compliance and technology transfer services consulting firm in Puerto Rico, the United States, Europe, Brazil, and internationally. The company provides technical compliance consulting services comprising regulatory compliance, validation, technology transfer, engineering, project management, and process support for the pharmaceutical, chemical manufacturing, biotechnology, medical device, cosmetic, food industries, and allied products companies. Pharma-Bio Serv, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Dorado, Puerto Rico.