Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) versus Acura Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:ACUR) Head-To-Head Review

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) and Acura Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:ACUR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

65.1% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.1% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.2% of Acura Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and Acura Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals	0	3	2	0	2.40
Acura Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $31.60, indicating a potential upside of 17.38%. Given Amphastar Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Amphastar Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Acura Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and Acura Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals	18.64%	20.76%	9.68%
Acura Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and Acura Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals	$731.97 million	1.71	$159.52 million	$2.67	10.08
Acura Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Acura Pharmaceuticals.

Risk and Volatility

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acura Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -1.95, meaning that its stock price is 295% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals beats Acura Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency. The company provides Amphadase, an injection to absorb and disperse other injected drugs; Epinephrine injection for allergic reactions; Lidocaine jelly, an anesthetic product for urological procedures; Lidocaine topical solution for various procedures; Phytonadione injection, a vitamin K1 injection for newborn babies; emergency syringe products; morphine injection for use with patient-controlled analgesia pumps; and Lorazepam injection for surgery and medical procedures. In addition, it offers Neostigmine methylsulfate injection to treat myasthenia gravis and to reverse the effects of muscle relaxants; Isoproterenol hydrochloride injection for mild or transient episodes of heart block; Ganirelix Acetate injection for the inhibition of premature luteinizing hormone surges; Vasopressin to increase blood pressure; and Regadenoson, a stress agent for radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging. Further, the company distributes recombinant human insulin APIs and porcine insulin API. Additionally, it develops generic product candidates, such as injectable, inhalation, and analytical technologies; biosimial product candidates; and intranasal epinephrine for the treatment of allergic reactions. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

About Acura Pharmaceuticals

Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an innovative drug delivery company, engages in the research, development, and commercialization of technologies and products to address safe use of medications in the United States. It offers Oxaydo tablets, a Schedule II narcotic indicated for the management of acute and chronic moderate to severe pain; and Nexafed products, which are pseudoephedrine and acetaminophen tablets that are used as nasal decongestants in various non-prescription and prescription cold, sinus, and allergy products. Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has collaboration and license agreements with Egalet US, Inc. and Egalet Ltd. to manufacture and commercialize Oxaydo products worldwide; and development and commercialization agreement with Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC to develop LTX-03, an immediate-release tablets utilizing LIMITx technology. The company was formerly known as Halsey Drug Co., Inc. The company was incorporated in 1935 and is based in Palatine, Illinois. Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC.