X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR) vs. Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Head-To-Head Contrast

X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR) and Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.0% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of Altimmune shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Altimmune shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for X4 Pharmaceuticals and Altimmune, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X4 Pharmaceuticals	1	1	4	0	2.50
Altimmune	1	1	7	0	2.67

X4 Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $11.25, suggesting a potential upside of 220.97%. Altimmune has a consensus price target of $14.33, suggesting a potential upside of 341.71%. Given Altimmune’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Altimmune is more favorable than X4 Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and Altimmune’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X4 Pharmaceuticals	-568.80%	-63.05%	-36.89%
Altimmune	-214,860.98%	-31.41%	-26.96%

Volatility & Risk

X4 Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Altimmune has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and Altimmune”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
X4 Pharmaceuticals	$35.11 million	9.90	-$79.20 million	($1.20)	-2.92
Altimmune	$40,000.00	15,780.44	-$88.09 million	($0.78)	-4.16

X4 Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Altimmune. Altimmune is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than X4 Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Altimmune beats X4 Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About X4 Pharmaceuticals

X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases. Its lead product candidate is mavorixafor, a small molecule inhibitor of the chemokine receptor C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients with warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis syndrome; and Phase II clinical trial to treat congenital, idiopathic, or cyclic neutropenia. The company is also developing X4P-003, a CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of CXCR4 dependent disorders and primary immunodeficiencies; and X4P-002, a CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of blood-brain barrier diseases. It has a license agreement with Abbisko Therapeutics Co Ltd. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize mavorixafor in combination with checkpoint inhibitors or other agents in oncology indications. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Altimmune

Altimmune, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing treatments for obesity and liver diseases. The company's lead product candidate, pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist that is in Phase 2 trial for the treatment of obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It is also developing HepTcell, an immunotherapeutic product candidate, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. The company was formerly known as Vaxin Inc. and changed its name to Altimmune, Inc. in September 2015. Altimmune, Inc. was founded in 1997 is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.