Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN – Get Free Report) and Pharming Group (NASDAQ:PHAR – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
93.9% of Mersana Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Pharming Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.0% of Mersana Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Pharming Group shares are owned by company 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.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Mersana Therapeutics and Pharming Group, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Mersana Therapeutics | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Pharming Group | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Profitability
This table compares Mersana Therapeutics and Pharming Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Mersana Therapeutics | -212.94% | -990.16% | -54.85% |
| Pharming Group | -2.19% | -3.31% | -1.78% |
Volatility & Risk
Mersana Therapeutics has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pharming Group has a beta of 0.05, indicating that its share price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Mersana Therapeutics and Pharming Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Mersana Therapeutics | $40.50 million | 0.88 | -$69.19 million | ($14.62) | -0.49 |
| Pharming Group | $297.20 million | 3.38 | -$11.84 million | ($0.13) | -112.92 |
Pharming Group has higher revenue and earnings than Mersana Therapeutics. Pharming Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mersana Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Pharming Group beats Mersana Therapeutics on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Mersana Therapeutics
Mersana Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops antibody drug conjugates (ADC) for cancer patients with unmet needs. The company develops XMT-1660, a B7-H4-targeted Dolasynthen ADC candidate; and XMT-2056, an immunosynthen ADC. It has research and development collaborations with Janssen Biotech, Inc., Ares Trading S.A., Merck KGaA, and Asana BioSciences, LLC for the development of ADC product candidates. The company was formerly known as Nanopharma Corp. and changed its name to Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. in November 2005. Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Pharming Group
Pharming Group N.V., a biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes protein replacement therapies and precision medicines for the treatment of rare diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers RUCONEST, a recombinant C1 esterase inhibitor for the treatment of acute attacks in adult and adolescent patients with acute hereditary angioedema (HAE); and Joenja (leniolisib), an oral small molecule PI3K? inhibitor for the treatment of activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta syndrome. It also develops OTL-105, an investigational ex-vivo autologous hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy for the treatment of HAE. The company has a development collaboration and license agreement with Novartis; and a strategic collaboration agreement with Orchard Therapeutics plc for research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of OTL-105. Pharming Group N.V. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands.
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