Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL – Get Free Report) and Palisade Bio (NASDAQ:PALI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Anavex Life Sciences and Palisade Bio, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Anavex Life Sciences | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.50 |
| Palisade Bio | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Anavex Life Sciences presently has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 398.13%. Palisade Bio has a consensus price target of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 205.34%. Given Anavex Life Sciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Anavex Life Sciences is more favorable than Palisade Bio.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Anavex Life Sciences | N/A | -30.64% | -28.23% |
| Palisade Bio | N/A | -134.88% | -106.74% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
31.5% of Anavex Life Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.8% of Palisade Bio shares are held by institutional investors. 11.0% of Anavex Life Sciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Palisade Bio shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Anavex Life Sciences and Palisade Bio”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Anavex Life Sciences | N/A | N/A | -$47.51 million | ($0.50) | -16.06 |
| Palisade Bio | $250,000.00 | 13.94 | -$12.30 million | ($13.98) | -0.19 |
Palisade Bio has higher revenue and earnings than Anavex Life Sciences. Anavex Life Sciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palisade Bio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Anavex Life Sciences has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palisade Bio has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Anavex Life Sciences beats Palisade Bio on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Anavex Life Sciences
Anavex Life Sciences Corp., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as other central nervous system diseases, including rare diseases, such as Rett syndrome, a rare severe neurological monogenic disorder; and infantile spasms, Fragile X syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. The company's drug candidate also comprises ANAVEX 3-71, which is in clinical trial for the treatment of schizophrenia, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Its preclinical drug candidates include ANAVEX 1-41 for the treatment of depression, stroke, and neurogenerative disease; ANAVEX 1066 for the potential treatment of neuropathic and visceral pain; and ANAVEX 1037 to treat prostate and pancreatic cancer. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
About Palisade Bio
Palisade Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on focuses on developing therapeutics that protect the integrity of the intestinal barrier in the United States. The company's lead therapeutic candidate is PALI-2108, a prodrug PDE4 inhibitor, currently under pre-clinical development as a therapeutic for patients living with inflammatory bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (CD), as well as develops PALI-1908, an oral, selective PDE4 inhibitor prodrug that is locally bioactivated in the terminal ileum of CD patients, currently in the research stage. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Giiant Pharma, Inc. for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of its compounds; a license agreement with the Regents of the University of California; a co-development and distribution agreement with Newsoara Biopharma Co., Ltd; and a transformative strategic collaboration with Strand Life Sciences for advancing precision medicine for ulcerative colitis therapy. The company is based in Carlsbad, California.
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