Reviewing Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) and KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV)

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALVGet Free Report) and Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCAGet 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 their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for KalVista Pharmaceuticals and Verrica Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
KalVista Pharmaceuticals 0 0 7 1 3.13
Verrica Pharmaceuticals 0 4 1 0 2.20

KalVista Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $24.83, suggesting a potential upside of 108.68%. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2,059.09%. Given Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Verrica Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than KalVista Pharmaceuticals.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

42.5% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 10.5% of KalVista Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 42.6% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares KalVista Pharmaceuticals and Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
KalVista Pharmaceuticals N/A -103.92% -88.06%
Verrica Pharmaceuticals -625.06% -591.84% -141.63%

Volatility and Risk

KalVista Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.05, suggesting that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.73, suggesting that its stock price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares KalVista Pharmaceuticals and Verrica Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio
KalVista Pharmaceuticals N/A N/A -$126.64 million ($3.72) -3.20
Verrica Pharmaceuticals $7.57 million 5.38 -$67.00 million ($1.54) -0.29

Verrica Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than KalVista Pharmaceuticals. KalVista Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Verrica Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Verrica Pharmaceuticals beats KalVista Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KalVista Pharmaceuticals

(Get Free Report)

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of drug therapies inhibitors for diseases with unmet needs. The company’s product candidate is Sebetralstat, a small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitor targeting the disease of hereditary angioedema (HAE). It develops Factor XIIa, an oral inhibitor for the treatment of HAE which is in preclinical trial. In addition, the company is developing an orally disintegrating tablet formulation, including KONFIDENT-KID for pediatric use with HAE; KONFIDENT-S for adolescent and adult patients with type I or type II HAE; and KONFIDENT for a potential oral therapy for HAE attacks. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

(Get Free Report)

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts. The company also develops VP-315, an oncolytic peptide-based injectable therapy, which is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of dermatology oncologic conditions which includes basal cell carcinoma; and VP-103, a cantharidin-based product candidate for the treatment of plantar warts and is in phase II clinical trial. In addition, it offers YCANTH for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum. The company has a collaboration and license agreement with Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of its product candidates for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum and common warts in Japan, including VP-102; and a license agreement with Lytix Biopharma AS to develop and commercialize VP-315 for dermatological oncology indications, such as non-metastatic melanoma and non-metastatic merkel cell carcinoma. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

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