Reviewing Xenetic Biosciences (NASDAQ:XBIO) and Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV)

Xenetic Biosciences (NASDAQ:XBIO) and Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Xenetic Biosciences and Minerva Neurosciences”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xenetic Biosciences	$2.50 million	2.01	-$3.96 million	($2.05)	-1.07
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	N/A	$1.44 million	($1.85)	-2.17

Minerva Neurosciences has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Xenetic Biosciences. Minerva Neurosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xenetic Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Xenetic Biosciences and Minerva Neurosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xenetic Biosciences	1	1	0	0	1.50
Minerva Neurosciences	1	1	0	0	1.50

Minerva Neurosciences has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.50%. Given Minerva Neurosciences’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Minerva Neurosciences is more favorable than Xenetic Biosciences.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

15.1% of Xenetic Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.6% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Xenetic Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Xenetic Biosciences and Minerva Neurosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xenetic Biosciences	-110.42%	-64.66%	-54.63%
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	-41.35%	-43.68%

Volatility and Risk

Xenetic Biosciences has a beta of 2.4, meaning that its stock price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerva Neurosciences has a beta of -0.4, meaning that its stock price is 140% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Minerva Neurosciences beats Xenetic Biosciences on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Xenetic Biosciences

Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on progressing XCART, a personalized CAR T platform technology engineered to target patient-specific tumor neoantigens. The Company is initially advancing cell-based therapeutics targeting the unique B-cell receptor on the surface of an individual patient’s malignant tumor cells for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas. XCART has the potential to fuel a robust pipeline of therapeutic assets targeting high-value oncology indications.

About Minerva Neurosciences

Minerva Neurosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is roluperidone (MIN-101) for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, currently submitted an New Drug Application (NDA); and MIN-301, a soluble recombinant form of the neuregulin-1b1 protein for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company has a license agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to develop, sell, and import roluperidone globally excluding Asia. Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Burlington, Massachusetts.