Critical Comparison: Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) versus Aspen Pharmacare (OTCMKTS:APNHY)

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) and Aspen Pharmacare (OTCMKTS:APNHY) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and Aspen Pharmacare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assembly Biosciences	-117.20%	-149.01%	-39.04%
Aspen Pharmacare	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and Aspen Pharmacare”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assembly Biosciences	$28.52 million	6.78	-$40.18 million	($5.58)	-4.52
Aspen Pharmacare	$2.39 billion	N/A	$235.61 million	N/A	N/A

Aspen Pharmacare has higher revenue and earnings than Assembly Biosciences.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Assembly Biosciences and Aspen Pharmacare, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assembly Biosciences	0	0	3	0	3.00
Aspen Pharmacare	0	0	0	0	0.00

Assembly Biosciences currently has a consensus price target of $38.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 53.32%. Given Assembly Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Assembly Biosciences is more favorable than Aspen Pharmacare.

Risk and Volatility

Assembly Biosciences has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aspen Pharmacare has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Aspen Pharmacare beats Assembly Biosciences on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial. The company also develops ABI-4334, a next-generation capsid assembly modulator, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV). In addition, it develops an oral non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor targeting transplant-related herpesviruses; and a small molecule interferon-a receptor agonist targeting HBV and HDV. The company has collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. and BeiGene, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. and changed its name to Assembly Biosciences, Inc. in June 2014. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Aspen Pharmacare

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and supplies specialty and branded pharmaceutical products worldwide. It operates in Commercial Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturing segments. The company provides general anesthetics, muscle relaxants, and topical agents under the Anaesthetics brand; and a range of injectable anticoagulants with a focus on low molecular weight heparins, Xa inhibitors, and heparin derivatives under the Thrombosis brand. It also offers branded consumer, prescription, and over-the-counter products under the regional brands, such as Circadin, Foxair, Maltofer, Mybulen, and Zyloric for various types of anesthetic comprises sleeping aid, respiratory, iron supplement, analgesic, and uric acid production inhibitor. In addition, the company manufactures and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dose form products to third-party customers. Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in Durban, South Africa.