Head to Head Survey: Morphic (NASDAQ:MORF) versus Mirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIRM)

Morphic (NASDAQ:MORF) and Mirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIRM) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Morphic and Mirum Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morphic	0	2	4	0	2.67
Mirum Pharmaceuticals	0	0	8	1	3.11

Morphic presently has a consensus price target of $51.50, indicating a potential upside of 84.06%. Mirum Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $51.70, indicating a potential upside of 111.11%. Given Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mirum Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Morphic.

Profitability

This table compares Morphic and Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morphic	N/A	-23.62%	-22.90%
Mirum Pharmaceuticals	-86.33%	-66.24%	-23.55%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.3% of Morphic shares are held by institutional investors. 28.1% of Morphic shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 24.1% of Mirum Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Morphic and Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morphic	$521,000.00	2,687.21	-$152.10 million	($3.49)	-8.02
Mirum Pharmaceuticals	$186.37 million	6.18	-$163.41 million	($3.97)	-6.17

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

Volatility & Risk

Morphic has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mirum Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Morphic beats Mirum Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Morphic

Morphic Holding, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops oral small-molecule integrin therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, as well as fibrosis and cancer. Its lead product candidate MORF-057, an a4ß7-specific integrin inhibitor affecting inflammation is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. The company's products in pipeline include Next Gen a4ß7 Inhibitors for additional potential GI indications, such as EGIDs, pouchitis, etc.; avß8 for the treatment of Myelofibrosis and solid tumor; and fibronectin integrin for pulmonary hypertensive. In addition, it has a license agreement with Janssen to discover and develop novel integrin therapeutics; collaboration agreement with Schrödinger for integrin targets; and license agreement with Children's Medical Center Corporation to develop and commercialize products worldwide for any therapeutic or diagnostic use in humans and veterinary applications. Morphic Holding, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About Mirum Pharmaceuticals

Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for debilitating rare and orphan diseases. Its lead product candidate is LIVMARLI (maralixibat), an orally administered and minimally absorbed ileal bile acid transporter (IBAT) inhibitor that is approved for the treatment of cholestatic pruritus in patients with Alagille syndrome in the United States and internationally. The company is also involved in the commercialization of Cholbam, a cholic acid capsule, which is approved as treatment for pediatric and adult patients with bile acid synthesis disorders due to single enzyme defects and for adjunctive treatment of patients with peroxisomal disorders, including peroxisome biogenesis disorder-Zellweger spectrum disorder and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome; and Chenodal, a tablet, which is approved for the treatment of radiolucent stones in the gallbladder, and under Phase 3 development for the treatment cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis. In addition, it develops Volixibat, an oral and minimally absorbed agent designed to inhibit IBAT, currently under Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of adult patients with cholestatic liver diseases. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.