Contrasting Cortexyme (NASDAQ:CRTX) and Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN)

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) and Cortexyme (NASDAQ:CRTX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.5% of Agenus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.2% of Cortexyme shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Agenus shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 27.9% of Cortexyme shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Agenus and Cortexyme’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agenus	-145.89%	N/A	-85.68%
Cortexyme	N/A	-70.96%	-63.53%

Volatility & Risk

Agenus has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cortexyme has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Agenus and Cortexyme, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agenus	0	5	1	0	2.17
Cortexyme	0	0	0	0	0.00

Agenus presently has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 325.53%. Given Agenus’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Agenus is more favorable than Cortexyme.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Agenus and Cortexyme”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agenus	$160.43 million	0.34	-$245.76 million	($11.24)	-0.21
Cortexyme	N/A	N/A	-$89.94 million	($2.97)	-0.51

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

Summary

Cortexyme beats Agenus on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agenus

Agenus Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops immuno-oncology products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody expression platform for the identification of fully human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; and display technologies. It develops QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant. The company also develops Balstilimab, an anti-PD-1 antagonist that has completed Phase II clinical trial to treat second line cervical cancer; AGEN1181, an antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and and melanoma; AGEN2373, a CD137 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1b clinical trial; AGEN1423, a CD73/TGFß TRAP antibody; AGEN1571, an ILT2 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1 clinical trial; and BMS-986442, a TIGIT bispecific antibodies. In addition, it develops INCAGN1876, a GITR agonist; INCAGN2390, a TIM-3 monospecific antibody; INCAGN2385, a LAG-3 monospecific antibody; MK-4830, a monospecific antibody targeting ILT4 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial; UGN-301, a zalifrelimab intravesical solution for the treatment of cancers of the urinary tract that is in a Phase 1 clinical trial; and AGEN1884, a first-generation anti-CTLA-4 monospecific antibody. The company operates under Agenus, MiNK, Prophage, Retrocyte Display, and Stimulon trademarks. It has collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Incyte Corporation, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. The company was formerly known as Antigenics Inc. and changed its name to Agenus Inc. in January 2011. Agenus Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.

About Cortexyme

Cortexyme, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapeutics for Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases. Its lead drug candidate is atuzaginstat (COR388), an orally administered brain-penetrating small molecule gingipain inhibitor, which is in Phase II/III clinical trial for use in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, as well as for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma, periodontitis, and coronavirus infection. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.