Contrasting Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) and Cellectar Biosciences (NASDAQ:CLRB)

Cellectar Biosciences (NASDAQ:CLRB) and Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

16.4% of Cellectar Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Cellectar Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Varex Imaging shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Cellectar Biosciences has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Varex Imaging has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Cellectar Biosciences and Varex Imaging, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cellectar Biosciences	1	0	3	0	2.50
Varex Imaging	1	1	2	1	2.60

Cellectar Biosciences presently has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 335.64%. Varex Imaging has a consensus target price of $16.17, suggesting a potential upside of 57.11%. Given Cellectar Biosciences’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Cellectar Biosciences is more favorable than Varex Imaging.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cellectar Biosciences and Varex Imaging”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cellectar Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$21.79 million	($6.66)	-0.38
Varex Imaging	$844.60 million	0.51	-$70.30 million	($2.00)	-5.15

Cellectar Biosciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Varex Imaging. Varex Imaging is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cellectar Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Cellectar Biosciences and Varex Imaging’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cellectar Biosciences	N/A	-349.24%	-153.18%
Varex Imaging	-9.64%	8.19%	3.63%

Summary

Varex Imaging beats Cellectar Biosciences on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cellectar Biosciences

Cellectar Biosciences, Inc., a clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of cancer. Its lead phospholipid drug conjugate (PDC) candidate is CLR 131 (iopofosine I-131), which is in Phase 2 clinical study for patients with B-cell malignancies; Phase 2a clinical study for patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia cohort, r/r multiple myeloma (MM) cohort, and r/r non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cohort; Phase 1 clinical study for r/r pediatric patients with select solid tumors, lymphomas, and malignant brain tumors; and Phase 1 clinical study for r/r head and neck cancer. The company also develops CLR 1900, a PDC chemotherapeutic program that is in the preclinical development stage to treat solid tumors. It has collaborative with Orano Med to develop CLR 12120 Series; and LegoChemBio. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey.

About Varex Imaging

Varex Imaging Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells X-ray imaging components. The company operates through two segments, Medical and Industrial. The Medical segment designs, manufactures, sells, and services X-ray imaging components, comprising X-ray tubes, digital detectors and accessories, ionization chambers, high voltage connectors, image-processing software and workstations, 3D reconstruction software, computer-aided diagnostic software, collimators, automatic exposure control devices, generators, and heat exchangers. This segment's products are used in a range of applications, including CT, mammography, oncology, cardiac, surgery, dental, and other diagnostic radiography uses. The Industrial segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services Linatron X-ray linear accelerators, X-ray tubes, digital detectors, high voltage connectors, and coolers for use in security and inspection applications, such as baggage screening at airports, cargo screening at ports and borders, and nondestructive testing, irradiation, and inspection in various applications. The company sells its products through imaging system original equipment manufacturers, independent service companies, and distributors, as well as directly to end-users. It has operations in North America, South America, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, India, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Varex Imaging Corporation was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.