Rafael (NYSE:RFL) and Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Financial Analysis

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) and Rafael (NYSE:RFL) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Esperion Therapeutics and Rafael, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esperion Therapeutics	0	1	4	0	2.80
Rafael	0	0	0	0	0.00

Esperion Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 164.15%. Given Esperion Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Esperion Therapeutics is more favorable than Rafael.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

47.4% of Esperion Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.3% of Rafael shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Esperion Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Rafael shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Esperion Therapeutics has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rafael has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esperion Therapeutics	$332.31 million	1.61	-$51.74 million	($0.49)	-5.41
Rafael	$640,000.00	74.29	-$34.41 million	($0.94)	-1.44

Rafael has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Esperion Therapeutics. Esperion Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rafael, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Esperion Therapeutics and Rafael’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esperion Therapeutics	-35.84%	-0.91%	-28.41%
Rafael	-3,127.60%	-24.75%	-21.12%

Summary

Esperion Therapeutics beats Rafael on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Esperion Therapeutics

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes medicines for the treatment of patients with elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Its marketed products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets that are oral, once-daily, non-statin medicines for the treatment of primary hyperlipidemia in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who require additional lowering of LDL-C. The company’s products also include NILEMDO, an ATP Citrate Lyase (ACL) inhibitor that lowers LDL-C and cardiovascular risk by reducing cholesterol biosynthesis and up-regulating the LDL receptors; and NUSTENDI, a bempedoic acid and ezetimibe tablet to treat elevated LDL-C. The company has license and collaboration agreements with Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd to; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd; and Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

About Rafael

Rafael Holdings, Inc. primarily engages in holding interests in clinical and early-stage pharmaceutical companies, and commercial real estate assets in the United States and Israel. It operates in two segments, Healthcare and Real Estate. The company engages in the development and commercialization of therapies that exploit the metabolic differences between normal cells and cancer cells. Its lead drug candidate is CPI-613 (devimistat), currently under Phase III clinical study for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer and acute myeloid leukemia. The company is also involved in developing Promitil, a molecule designed for the targeted delivery of mitomycin-C in a proprietary prodrug form, completed Phase 1B clinical studies; Folate-targeted Promitil (Promi-Fol) which is aimed at local treatment (intravesical) of superficial bladder cancer; and Promi-Dox, a highly potent dual drug liposome with MLP and doxorubicin targeting a potential basket of tumors. In addition, it engages in the development of surgical and procedural devices, including orthopedic arthroscopy instrumentation. Rafael Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.