Critical Comparison: Xenetic Biosciences (NASDAQ:XBIO) vs. Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV)

Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) and Xenetic Biosciences (NASDAQ:XBIO) 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, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Minerva Neurosciences and Xenetic Biosciences”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	N/A	$1.44 million	($1.85)	-2.26
Xenetic Biosciences	$2.50 million	1.91	-$3.96 million	($2.05)	-1.01

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

Profitability

This table compares Minerva Neurosciences and Xenetic Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	-41.35%	-43.68%
Xenetic Biosciences	-110.42%	-64.66%	-54.63%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

34.6% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.1% of Xenetic Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of Xenetic Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Minerva Neurosciences and Xenetic Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Minerva Neurosciences	1	1	0	0	1.50
Xenetic Biosciences	1	1	0	0	1.50

Minerva Neurosciences currently has a consensus target price of $4.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.53%. Given Minerva Neurosciences’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Minerva Neurosciences is more favorable than Xenetic Biosciences.

Volatility & Risk

Minerva Neurosciences has a beta of -0.4, suggesting that its share price is 140% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xenetic Biosciences has a beta of 2.4, suggesting that its share price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Minerva Neurosciences beats Xenetic Biosciences on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Minerva Neurosciences

Minerva Neurosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is roluperidone (MIN-101) for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, currently submitted an New Drug Application (NDA); 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 incorporated in 2007 and is based in Burlington, Massachusetts.

About Xenetic Biosciences

Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on progressing XCART, a personalized CAR T platform technology engineered to target patient-specific tumor neoantigens. The Company is initially advancing cell-based therapeutics targeting the unique B-cell receptor on the surface of an individual patient’s malignant tumor cells for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas. XCART has the potential to fuel a robust pipeline of therapeutic assets targeting high-value oncology indications.