Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) vs. Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Head to Head Survey

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Agenus and Prothena, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agenus	1	2	2	0	2.20
Prothena	2	4	4	0	2.20

Agenus presently has a consensus target price of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 265.24%. Prothena has a consensus target price of $24.56, indicating a potential upside of 132.97%. Given Agenus’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Agenus is more favorable than Prothena.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Agenus and Prothena”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agenus	$101.71 million	1.24	-$227.21 million	($7.15)	-0.56
Prothena	$10.34 million	54.87	-$122.31 million	($5.64)	-1.87

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

Volatility & Risk

Agenus has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prothena has a beta of -0.11, suggesting that its share price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agenus	-167.52%	N/A	-81.04%
Prothena	-2,929.30%	-62.17%	-54.43%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.5% of Agenus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.1% of Prothena shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Agenus shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Prothena shares are owned 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.

Summary

Prothena 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 Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc, a late-stage clinical biotechnology company, focuses on discovery and development of novel therapies to treat diseases caused by protein dysregulation in the United States. The company is involved in developing birtamimab, an investigational humanized antibody that is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of AL amyloidosis; Prasinezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other related synucleinopathies which is in Phase IIb clinical trial; NNC6019 that is in Phase lI clinical trial for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis; and BMS-986446 and PRX012, which is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Its discovery and preclinical programs include PRX123, a dual Aß-Tau vaccine for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease; and PRX019 for the treatment of neurogenerative diseases, as well as TDP-43 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Prothena Corporation plc has a license, development, and commercialization agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. to develop and commercialize antibodies that target a-synuclein, including prasinezumab; and a collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop and commercialize antibodies targeting tau, TDP-43. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.