Inventiva (NASDAQ:IVA) and ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ASLN) Critical Comparison

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ASLN) and Inventiva (NASDAQ:IVA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.8% of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.1% of Inventiva shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 32.0% of Inventiva shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Inventiva has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for ASLAN Pharmaceuticals and Inventiva, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00
Inventiva	0	1	4	0	2.80

Inventiva has a consensus price target of $10.40, suggesting a potential upside of 207.69%. Given Inventiva’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Inventiva is more favorable than ASLAN Pharmaceuticals.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ASLAN Pharmaceuticals and Inventiva”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals	$12.00 million	0.10	-$44.22 million	($21.92)	-0.03
Inventiva	$9.20 million	19.28	-$119.51 million	N/A	N/A

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Inventiva.

Profitability

This table compares ASLAN Pharmaceuticals and Inventiva’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-8,454.87%	-121.60%
Inventiva	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Inventiva beats ASLAN Pharmaceuticals on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ASLAN Pharmaceuticals

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited, a clinical-stage immunology focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing various treatments to transform the lives of patients. The company's clinical portfolio comprises eblasakimab (ASLAN004), a monoclonal antibody that targets the IL-13 receptor a1 subunit which is under Phase 2 developed for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and other immunology indications; and farudodstat (ASLAN003), an orally active, potent inhibitor of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase currently under Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. It has research collaboration agreement with Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of eblasakimab in atopic dermatitis and all other indications in Japan. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About Inventiva

Inventiva S.A., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other diseases. Its lead product candidate is Lanifibranor, which is in Phase III clinical trial to treat NASH. The company also develops Odiparcil for the treatment of patients with mucopolysaccharidoses type VI. In addition, it has a pipeline of earlier stage programs in oncology and other diseases. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Daix, France.