Comparing AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) and Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV)

AC Immune ( NASDAQ:ACIU – Get Your Free Report ) and Minerva Neurosciences ( NASDAQ:NERV – Get Your Free Report ) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider and institutional ownership

51.4% of AC Immune shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.6% of Minerva Neuroscience shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of AC Immune shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of Minerva Neuroscience shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, big money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommendations for AC Immune and Minerva Neurosciences as provided by MarketBeat.com.

AC Immune currently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 289.61%. Minerva Neuroscience has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 90.11%. Given AC Immune’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe AC Immune is more favorable than Minerva Neurosciences.

return

This table compares AC Immune and Minerva Neurosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Earnings and Rating

This table compares AC Immune and Minerva Neurosciences’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Minerva Neurosciences has lower revenue but higher earnings than AC Immune. AC Immune is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Minerva Neurosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and volatility

AC Immune has a beta of 1.27, suggesting its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerva Neurosciences has a beta of 0.15, suggesting its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AC Immune beats Minerva Neurosciences on 8 of the 12 factors comparing the two stocks.

About AC Immune

(Get a free report)

AC Immune SA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, designs and develops drugs and diagnostics for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein misfolding. Its SupraAntigen and Morphomer platforms are designed to generate vaccines, antibodies and small molecules that selectively interact with misfolded proteins that are common in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. The company is developing Crenezumab, a humanized, conformation-specific monoclonal antibody, which is in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Also in development is ACI-24, an anti-Abeta vaccine candidate that is in Phase II clinical trial for AD, as well as a completed Phase Ib clinical trial for Down syndrome; ACI-35, an anti-Tau vaccine candidate in Phase Ib/2a clinical trial; and the taupositron emission tomography (PET) imaging tracer, which is in phase II clinical trial. In addition, the company is researching and developing small molecule Tau aggregation inhibitors for AD and NeuroOrphan indications. In addition, it has discoveries and preclinical molecules targeting the range of neurodegenerative diseases, which include diagnostics targeting TDP-43, alpha-synuclein and NLRP3. AC Immune SA has license agreements and collaborations with Genentech, Inc.; Biogen International GmbH; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Life Molecular Imaging SA; Eli Lilly and Company; and WuXi Biologics. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

About Minerva Neurosciences

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Minerva Neurosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system. Its lead product candidate is rolperidone (MIN-101) for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, currently a New Drug Application (NDA) submitted; and MIN-301, a soluble recombinant form of the neuregulin-1b1 protein for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company has a license agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to develop, sell and import roluperidone globally, excluding Asia. Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

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