Flexion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FLXN) and uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
78.3% of uniQure shares are held by institutional investors. 17.0% of Flexion Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of uniQure shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility and Risk
Flexion Therapeutics has a beta of 1.64, suggesting that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, uniQure has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Flexion Therapeutics and uniQure, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Flexion Therapeutics | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3.00 |
| uniQure | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 3.00 |
Flexion Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $20.4545, suggesting a potential upside of 151.90%. uniQure has a consensus price target of $68.4615, suggesting a potential upside of 102.91%. Given Flexion Therapeutics' higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Flexion Therapeutics is more favorable than uniQure.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Flexion Therapeutics and uniQure's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Flexion Therapeutics | $72.96 million | 5.56 | $-149,770,000.00 | ($3.93) | -2.07 |
| uniQure | $7.28 million | 208.53 | $-124,200,000.00 | ($3.11) | -10.85 |
uniQure has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Flexion Therapeutics. uniQure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flexion Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Flexion Therapeutics and uniQure's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Flexion Therapeutics | -153.90% | N/A | -53.31% |
| uniQure | -2,738.33% | -59.64% | -41.47% |
Summary
Flexion Therapeutics beats uniQure on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
