Verona Pharma (VRNA) Competitors

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) and FibroGen (NASDAQ:FGEN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in VRNA or FGEN?

76.9% of FibroGen shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of Verona Pharma shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of FibroGen shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer VRNA or FGEN?

In the previous week, FibroGen had 1 more articles in the media than Verona Pharma. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for FibroGen and 3 mentions for Verona Pharma. Verona Pharma's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat FibroGen's score of 0.22 indicating that Verona Pharma is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Verona Pharma	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
FibroGen	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is VRNA or FGEN more profitable?

Verona Pharma has a net margin of 0.00% compared to FibroGen's net margin of -264.63%. Verona Pharma's return on equity of -28.33% beat FibroGen's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Verona Pharma	N/A	-28.33%	-23.95%
FibroGen	-264.63%	-879.75%	-50.26%

Which has better earnings & valuation, VRNA or FGEN?

Verona Pharma has higher earnings, but lower revenue than FibroGen. Verona Pharma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FibroGen, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Verona Pharma	$460 thousand	3,673.04	-$68.70 million	-$0.96	-22.28
FibroGen	$140.73 million	11.58	-$293.65 million	-$3.27	-5.11

Which has more risk and volatility, VRNA or FGEN?

Verona Pharma has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FibroGen has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer VRNA or FGEN?

FibroGen received 44 more outperform votes than Verona Pharma when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 79.68% of users gave Verona Pharma an outperform vote while only 63.69% of users gave FibroGen an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Verona Pharma	Outperform Votes 298 79.68%	Underperform Votes 76 20.32%
FibroGen	Outperform Votes 342 63.69%	Underperform Votes 195 36.31%

Do analysts rate VRNA or FGEN?

Verona Pharma currently has a consensus price target of $29.33, indicating a potential upside of 37.14%. FibroGen has a consensus price target of $23.40, indicating a potential upside of 40.12%. Given FibroGen's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe FibroGen is more favorable than Verona Pharma.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Verona Pharma	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
FibroGen	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Summary

Verona Pharma beats FibroGen on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.