IO Biotech (NASDAQ:IOBT – Get Free Report) and Vistagen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VTGN – 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, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.
Volatility and Risk
IO Biotech has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vistagen Therapeutics has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
54.8% of IO Biotech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Vistagen Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of IO Biotech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Vistagen Therapeutics shares are owned 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.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| IO Biotech | N/A | N/A | -$86.08 million | ($1.37) | -0.72 |
| Vistagen Therapeutics | $698,000.00 | 97.17 | -$29.36 million | ($1.48) | -1.59 |
Vistagen Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than IO Biotech. Vistagen Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IO Biotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for IO Biotech and Vistagen Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| IO Biotech | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3.33 |
| Vistagen Therapeutics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 |
IO Biotech presently has a consensus price target of $9.33, indicating a potential upside of 848.32%. Given IO Biotech’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe IO Biotech is more favorable than Vistagen Therapeutics.
Profitability
This table compares IO Biotech and Vistagen Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| IO Biotech | N/A | -86.56% | -75.24% |
| Vistagen Therapeutics | -6,777.08% | -48.12% | -43.80% |
Summary
Vistagen Therapeutics beats IO Biotech on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About IO Biotech
IO Biotech, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops immune-modulating therapeutic cancer vaccines based on the T-win technology platform. The company's lead product candidate, IO102-IO103, which is designed to target immunosuppressive mechanisms mediated by Indoleamine 2,3-dehydrogenase (IDO), and programmed death-ligand (PD-L1) that is in phase 3 clinical trial to treat melanoma, as well as in phase 2 clinical trial to treat lung, head and neck, bladder, and melanoma cancer. It also develops IO112, a product candidate that contains a single Arginase 1-derived peptide designed to target T cells that recognize epitopes derived from Arginase 1 for the treatment of cancers. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
About Vistagen Therapeutics
Vistagen Therapeutics, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, primarily focus to transform the treatment landscape for individuals living with anxiety, depression, and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company's pipeline includes six clinical stage product candidates, including five investigational agents belonging to drugs known as pherines. Its product pipeline comprises PH94B, a fasedienol nasal spray, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of social anxiety disorder; and PH10, a Ituvone nasal spray which is in Phase II development for the treatment of major depressive disorder. In addition, the company is also developing PH15, an early-stage investigational synthetic neuroactive steroid for the treatment of cognition improvement; PH80, an odorless and tasteless synthetic investigational pherine for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes and migraine; PH284, an early-stage investigational synthetic neuroactive steroid for the treatment of wasting syndrome Cachexia; and AV-101, an oral nmdr glycine site antagonist for depression and neurological disorders. Further, it has a license and collaboration agreement with EverInsight Therapeutics Inc. to develop and commercialize to address ophthalmologic and CNS disorders. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.
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