Reviewing Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) and Kaya (OTCMKTS:KAYS)

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) and Kaya (OTCMKTS:KAYS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

36.8% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.5% of Kaya shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and Kaya”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	$175.51 million	6.74	-$78.02 million	($0.15)	-55.06
Kaya	$200,000.00	4.39	$1.61 million	($0.08)	-0.50

Kaya has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kaya, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and Kaya, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	0	1	3	0	2.75
Kaya	0	0	0	0	0.00

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.07%. Given Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Kaya.

Profitability

This table compares Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and Kaya’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	-10.23%	-4.41%	-3.07%
Kaya	N/A	-9.79%	-1,143.19%

Volatility & Risk

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kaya has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals beats Kaya on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to treat various diseases with unmet medical need in the United States. It offers LUPKYNIS for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

About Kaya

Kaya Holdings, Inc., a vertically integrated legal cannabis enterprise, engages in the operation of psychedelic treatment clinics and medical cannabis dispensaries primarily in the United States. It offers a range of cannabis products, including flower, oils, vape cartridges and cannabis infused confections, baked goods, and beverages. The company also operates retail outlets under the Kaya Shack brand name, as well as offers strain specific cannabis cigarettes under the Kaya Buddies name, and strains of cannabis under the Kaya Farms name. In addition, it is involved in the development of a psychedelic treatment center under The Sacred Mushroom name, that provides its guests access to psilocybin treatments, located in Portland, Oregon. The company was formerly known as Alternative Fuels America, Inc. and changed its name to Kaya Holdings, Inc. in April 2015. Kaya Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.