Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) & Cocrystal Pharma (NASDAQ:COCP) Critical Analysis

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.5% of Agenus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.7% of Cocrystal Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Agenus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.1% of Cocrystal Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Agenus has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cocrystal Pharma has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Agenus and Cocrystal Pharma, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agenus	1	1	2	1	2.60
Cocrystal Pharma	1	0	1	0	2.00

Agenus currently has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 200.21%. Cocrystal Pharma has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 300.00%. Given Cocrystal Pharma’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cocrystal Pharma is more favorable than Agenus.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agenus	$114.20 million	1.62	$120,000.00	($0.46)	-10.50
Cocrystal Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$8.83 million	($0.79)	-1.90

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agenus	-2.67%	-7.65%	11.01%
Cocrystal Pharma	N/A	-132.61%	-89.83%

Summary

Agenus beats Cocrystal Pharma on 10 of the 14 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 Cocrystal Pharma

Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery and development of antiviral therapeutic treatments for serious and/or chronic viral diseases. It employs structure-based technologies to create antiviral drugs primarily to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV), influenza virus, coronavirus, norovirus, and respiratory virus infections. The company develops CC-31244, a HCV non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor that has completed Phase II a clinical trial to treat HCV infection; and CC-42344, a PB2 inhibitor that has completed Phase I clinical trial for treating influenza infection. It is also involved in identifying and developing non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors for norovirus infections. Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. has a license and research collaboration agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. to discover and develop proprietary influenza A/B antiviral agents; and a license agreement with Kansas State University Research Foundation to develop antiviral compounds for the treatment of norovirus and coronavirus infections. The company is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.