Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN – Get Free Report) and Longeveron (NASDAQ:LGVN – Get Free Report) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and valuation.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
11.4% of Valneva shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.0% of Longeveron shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.9% of Valneva shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Longeveron shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Valneva and Longeveron’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Valneva | -110.33% | -153.20% | -39.50% |
| Longeveron | -1,977.59% | -223.19% | -150.20% |
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Valneva | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.67 |
| Longeveron | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Valneva presently has a consensus price target of $9.30, indicating a potential upside of 39.64%. Longeveron has a consensus price target of $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 991.41%. Given Longeveron’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Longeveron is more favorable than Valneva.
Volatility and Risk
Valneva has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Longeveron has a beta of -0.25, suggesting that its share price is 125% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Valneva and Longeveron”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Valneva | $197.56 million | 3.20 | -$130.33 million | ($2.11) | -3.16 |
| Longeveron | $1.20 million | 19.49 | -$22.70 million | ($9.90) | -0.74 |
Longeveron has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Valneva. Valneva is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Longeveron, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Valneva beats Longeveron on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Valneva
Valneva SE, a specialty vaccine company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases with unmet needs. It offers IXIARO, an inactivated Vero cell culture-derived Japanese encephalitis vaccine indicated for active immunization against Japanese encephalitis; DUKORAL, an oral vaccine for the prevention of diarrhea caused by Vibrio cholera and/or heat-labile toxin producing enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli bacterium; IXCHIQ, a single-dose, live-attenuated vaccine for the prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus; and VLA2001, an inactivated whole-virus COVID-19 vaccine. The company also develops VLA15, a vaccine candidate, which is in Phase III clinical trial against Borrelia, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease; VLA1553, a vaccine candidate, which is in Phase III clinical trial against the chikungunya virus; VLA1554, a vaccine candidate targeting human metapneumovirus; and VLA2112, a vaccine candidate to treat patients with epstein-barr virus. It sells its products in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, Nordics, the United Kingdom, France, rest of European countries, and internationally. Valneva SE has collaborations with Pfizer, Inc. to co-develop and commercialize its Lyme disease vaccine; and Instituto Butantan for the development, manufacturing, and marketing of single-shot chikungunya vaccine. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Saint-Herblain, France.
About Longeveron
Longeveron Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, develops cellular therapies for aging-related and life-threatening conditions in the United States and Japan. The company’s lead investigational product is the LOMECEL-B, an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell formulation sourced from the bone marrow of young and healthy adult donors. It is conducting Phase 1, Phase 1/2, Phase 2a, and Phase 2b clinical trials in various indications, such as aging-related frailty, alzheimer’s disease, and hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Longeveron Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.
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