Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) and PDS Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PDSB) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

50.8% of Merus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.8% of PDS Biotechnology shares are owned by institutional investors. 43.9% of PDS Biotechnology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Merus and PDS Biotechnology, as reported by MarketBeat.

Merus currently has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 77.51%. PDS Biotechnology has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 235.97%. Given PDS Biotechnologys stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe PDS Biotechnology is more favorable than Merus.

Profitability

This table compares Merus and PDS Biotechnologys net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Volatility & Risk

Merus has a beta of 0.14, indicating that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PDS Biotechnology has a beta of 2.31, indicating that its share price is 131% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Merus and PDS Biotechnologys gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Merus has higher revenue and earnings than PDS Biotechnology. Merus is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PDS Biotechnology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Merus beats PDS Biotechnology on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

Merus Company Profile

Merus N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, engages in developing bispecific antibody therapeutics. Its bispecific antibody candidate pipeline includes MCLA-128, which is in a Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer; and Phase I/II study for treating gastric, ovarian, endometrial, and non-small cell lung cancers. The company is also developing MCLA-117 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia; and MCLA-158, which is in a Phase I clinical trial for treating metastatic colorectal cancer. In addition, its preclinical development stage bispecific antibody candidates include MCLA-145, which is being developed in collaboration with Incyte Corporation; and other preclinical candidates in various stages of development. Merus N.V. has collaboration with the Integral Molecular for discovering MAbs against structurally complex proteins; and Lipoparticles, virus-like particles displaying high concentrations of membrane proteins. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

PDS Biotechnology Company Profile

PDS Biotechnology Corporation, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company, develops multifunctional immunotherapeutic products. The company develops products to treat early-stage and late-stage cancers, including head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, anal cancer, and other cancers. Its lead product candidate is PDS0101, a monotherapy first line therapy for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of cancer. In addition, the company develops PDS0102, which is in phase 2 clinical trial for treatment of prostate and breast cancers. Further, its pipeline product portfolio includes PDS0103 for treatment of colorectal, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers; and PDS 0104 for treatment of melanoma. Additionally, the company offers Versamune, a T-cell activating platform developed for immunotherapy approaches, such as checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cells and live-vector based vaccines, etc. The company has collaboration agreement with Merck and Co. to combine PDS0101 with Keytruda, a checkpoint inhibitor to treat human papillomavirus positive recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer. PDS Biotechnology Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

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Critical Analysis: PDS Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PDSB) and Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) - Riverton Roll