Eiger BioPharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EIGR) and Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AERI) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.
Risk & Volatility
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aerie Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Eiger BioPharmaceuticals and Aerie Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Eiger BioPharmaceuticals | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.73 |
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 170.56%. Aerie Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $25.50, indicating a potential upside of 32.47%. Given Eiger BioPharmaceuticals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Eiger BioPharmaceuticals is more favorable than Aerie Pharmaceuticals.
Profitability
This table compares Eiger BioPharmaceuticals and Aerie Pharmaceuticals' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Eiger BioPharmaceuticals | N/A | -100.60% | -57.76% |
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals | -231.05% | -135.57% | -37.23% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Eiger BioPharmaceuticals and Aerie Pharmaceuticals' revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Eiger BioPharmaceuticals | N/A | N/A | $-70,250,000.00 | ($3.08) | -3.00 |
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals | $69.89 million | 12.92 | $-199,580,000.00 | ($3.40) | -5.66 |
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Aerie Pharmaceuticals. Aerie Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
68.8% of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.9% of Aerie Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of Aerie Pharmaceuticals shares are owned 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.
Summary
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals beats Aerie Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
