Reviewing Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) and UCB (OTCMKTS:UCBJY)

Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) and UCB (OTCMKTS:UCBJY) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Minerva Neurosciences and UCB’s 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%
UCB	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Minerva Neurosciences and UCB”s 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)	-2.19
UCB	$6.66 billion	N/A	$1.15 billion	N/A	N/A

UCB has higher revenue and earnings than Minerva Neurosciences.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

34.6% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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, UCB has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Minerva Neurosciences and UCB, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Minerva Neurosciences	1	1	0	0	1.50
UCB	0	1	0	1	3.00

Minerva Neurosciences presently has a consensus target price of $4.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.48%. Given Minerva Neurosciences’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Minerva Neurosciences is more favorable than UCB.

Summary

UCB beats Minerva Neurosciences on 7 of the 10 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 UCB

UCB SA, a biopharmaceutical company, develops products and solutions for people with neurology and immunology diseases worldwide. The company's primary products include Cimzia for inflammatory TNF mediated diseases, as well as ankylosing spondylitis, axial spondyloarthritis, Crohn's disease, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis; Vimpat, Keppra, and Briviact for epilepsy; Neupro for Parkinson's disease and restless legs syndrome; Nayzilam, a nasal spray rescue treatment for epilepsy seizure clusters; and Zyrtec and Xyzal for allergies. It also offers Evenity for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women; Bimzelx for treating plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and axial spondyloarthritis; and Fintepla to treat Dravet syndrome. In addition, the company is involved in developing rozanolixizumab and Zilbrisq to treat myasthenia gravis; dapirolizumab pegol for systemic lupus erythematosus; fenfluramine to treat CDKL5 deficiency disorder; doxecitine for TK2 deficiency disorder; STACCATO alprazolam for stereotypical prolonged seizures; bepranemab to treat Alzheimer's disease; minzasolmin and UCB0222 for Parkinson's disease; and UCB1381 and UCB9741 for atropic dermatitis. Further, it engages in contract manufacturing activities. UCB SA has collaboration agreements with Amgen, Biogen, Roche/Genentech, Novartis, and Otsuka. The company was incorporated in 1925 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.