Financial Contrast: Heron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HRTX) and Addex Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ADXN)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Heron Therapeutics and Addex Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heron Therapeutics	1	0	2	0	2.33
Addex Therapeutics	0	0	1	0	3.00

Heron Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $4.50, suggesting a potential upside of 240.91%. Addex Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 273.83%. Given Addex Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Addex Therapeutics is more favorable than Heron Therapeutics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

80.0% of Heron Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.1% of Addex Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Heron Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.0% of Addex Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Heron Therapeutics has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Addex Therapeutics has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heron Therapeutics and Addex Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heron Therapeutics	$144.29 million	1.40	-$13.58 million	($0.02)	-66.00
Addex Therapeutics	$460,000.00	18.49	$8.02 million	($0.34)	-23.60

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

Profitability

This table compares Heron Therapeutics and Addex Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heron Therapeutics	-0.62%	N/A	-0.40%
Addex Therapeutics	3,584.49%	-54.27%	-49.15%

Summary

Addex Therapeutics beats Heron Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Heron Therapeutics

Heron Therapeutics, Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, focuses on enhancing the lives of patients by developing and commercializing therapeutic that enhances medical care. The company's product candidates utilize its proprietary Biochronomer, a drug delivery technology, which delivers therapeutic levels of a range of short-acting pharmacological agents over a period from days to weeks with a single administration. It offers SUSTOL (granisetron), an extended-release injection for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, or anthracycline and cyclophosphamide combination chemotherapy regimens; and CINVANTI, an intravenous formulation of aprepitant, a substance P/neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, as well as nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy. The company is also developing ZYNRELEF, a dual-acting local anesthetic that delivers a fixed-dose combination of the local anesthetic bupivacaine and a low dose of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam; and APONVIE, an intravenous formulation of a substance P/neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist indicated for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in adults. The company was formerly known as A.P. Pharma, Inc. and changed its name to Heron Therapeutics, Inc. in January 2014. Heron Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Addex Therapeutics

Addex Therapeutics Ltd discovers, develops, and commercializes small-molecule pharmaceutical products for central nervous system (CNS) disorders in Switzerland. The company focuses on the discovery of G-protein coupled receptors and enzymes. Its lead programs include Dipraglurant for the treatment of Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia and dystonia, and post-stroke/TBI recovery; ADX71149, a novel orally active metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 positive allosteric modulator (mGlu2 PAM) for the treatment of epilepsy; and GABAB PAM for the treatment of pain, anxiety, overactive bladder, and addiction, as well as substance use disorder. Addex Therapeutics Ltd has license and collaboration agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel mGlu2 PAM compounds for the treatment of CNS and related diseases; license and research agreement with Indivior PLC discovery, development, and commercialization of novel GABAB PAM compounds for the treatment of addiction and other CNS diseases; and The CharcotMarieTooth Association to evaluate the role of GABAB PAM compounds in preclinical models of CMT1A. The company was formerly known as Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Addex Therapeutics Ltd was founded in 2002 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.