Financial Review: Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) versus Alterity Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATHE)

Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) and Alterity Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATHE) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Mesoblast has a beta of 2.14, meaning that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alterity Therapeutics has a beta of 0.06, meaning that its stock price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mesoblast and Alterity Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mesoblast	$17.20 million	135.46	-$102.14 million	($1.12)	-16.21
Alterity Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$7.87 million	N/A	N/A

Alterity Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Mesoblast.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.4% of Mesoblast shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.1% of Alterity Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 18.8% of Mesoblast shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 38.8% of Alterity Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Mesoblast and Alterity Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mesoblast	1	1	1	2	2.80
Alterity Therapeutics	1	1	2	0	2.25

Mesoblast presently has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.16%. Alterity Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 279.75%. Given Alterity Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Alterity Therapeutics is more favorable than Mesoblast.

Profitability

This table compares Mesoblast and Alterity Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mesoblast	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alterity Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Alterity Therapeutics beats Mesoblast on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mesoblast

Mesoblast Limited engages in the development of regenerative medicine products in Australia, the United States, Singapore, and Switzerland. The company offers products in the areas of cardiovascular, spine orthopedic disorder, oncology, hematology, and immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases. Its proprietary regenerative medicine technology platform is based on specialized cells known as mesenchymal lineage cells. The company offers Remestemcel-L that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of systemic inflammatory diseases, including steroid refractory acute graft versus host disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and biologic refractory inflammatory bowel disease; and Remestemcel-L, which is in Phase III clinical trials to treat chronic heart failure and chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease. It is also developing MPC-300-IV to treat biologic refractory rheumatoid arthritis diabetic nephropathy; and MPC-25-IC for the treatment or prevention of acute myocardial infarction. It has strategic partnerships with Tasly Pharmaceutical Group to offer MPC-150-IM for heart failure and MPC-25-IC for heart attacks in China; JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. to treat wound healing in patients with epidermolysis bullosa; and Grünenthal to develops and commercializes cell therapy for the treatment of chronic low back pain. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

About Alterity Therapeutics

Alterity Therapeutics Limited engages in the research and development of therapeutic drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological disorders in Australia. The company’s lead drug candidate is ATH434 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. It is also developing ATH434-201, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat multiple system atrophy early stage; ATH434-202 that is in Phase II clinical trial to treat multiple system atrophy advance; and PBT2 that has completed Phase 2a clinical trial to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The company was formerly known as Prana Biotechnology Limited and changed its name to Alterity Therapeutics Limited in April 2019. Alterity Therapeutics Limited was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.