Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ:CLSD) and Novus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NVUS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
25.5% of Clearside Biomedical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.4% of Novus Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 13.1% of Clearside Biomedical shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Novus Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Clearside Biomedical and Novus Therapeutics' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Clearside Biomedical | -280.03% | -189.40% | -76.70% |
| Novus Therapeutics | N/A | -145.07% | -126.53% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Clearside Biomedical and Novus Therapeutics' gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Clearside Biomedical | $2.17 million | 32.03 | $-30,770,000.00 | ($0.81) | -1.85 |
| Novus Therapeutics | N/A | N/A | $-16,010,000.00 | ($1.20) | -0.77 |
Novus Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Clearside Biomedical. Clearside Biomedical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Novus Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Clearside Biomedical and Novus Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Clearside Biomedical | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.60 |
| Novus Therapeutics | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
Clearside Biomedical currently has a consensus target price of $5.75, indicating a potential upside of 285.91%. Novus Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $1.95, indicating a potential upside of 111.91%. Given Clearside Biomedical's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Clearside Biomedical is more favorable than Novus Therapeutics.
Volatility and Risk
Clearside Biomedical has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novus Therapeutics has a beta of 3.12, meaning that its stock price is 212% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Clearside Biomedical beats Novus Therapeutics on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
