Comparing Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) and Qualigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QLGN)

Qualigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QLGN) and Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Qualigen Therapeutics and Verrica Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Qualigen Therapeutics	1	0	0	0	1.00
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	1	1	2	0	2.25

Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 159.39%. Given Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Verrica Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Qualigen Therapeutics.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

3.2% of Qualigen Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.5% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Qualigen Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 54.0% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Qualigen Therapeutics and Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Qualigen Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-202.16%
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	-47.97%	-1,077.78%	-40.76%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Qualigen Therapeutics and Verrica Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Qualigen Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$6.26 million	($7.50)	-0.10
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	$35.58 million	2.70	-$17.89 million	($1.03)	-5.43

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

Volatility and Risk

Qualigen Therapeutics has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Verrica Pharmaceuticals beats Qualigen Therapeutics on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Qualigen Therapeutics

Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. It offers FastPack, a patent-protected rapid, onsite immunoassay testing system. The company is developing QN-302 for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; QN-247, an oligonucleotide-based drug candidate to treat various nucleolin-expressing cancers, including liquid and solid tumors; QN-165, a drug candidate for the potential broad-spectrum treatment of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19; RAS-F, a small-molecule RAS oncogene protein-protein inhibitor that blocks RAS mutations and inhibits tumor formation; and selective target antigen removal system, a therapeutic device to remove circulating tumor cells, viruses, inflammation factors, and immune checkpoints. Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Carlsbad, California.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts. The company also develops VP-315, an oncolytic peptide-based injectable therapy, which is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of dermatology oncologic conditions which includes basal cell carcinoma; and VP-103, a cantharidin-based product candidate for the treatment of plantar warts and is in phase II clinical trial. In addition, it offers YCANTH for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum. The company has a collaboration and license agreement with Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of its product candidates for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum and common warts in Japan, including VP-102; and a license agreement with Lytix Biopharma AS to develop and commercialize VP-315 for dermatological oncology indications, such as non-metastatic melanoma and non-metastatic merkel cell carcinoma. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.