Head-To-Head Analysis: Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) & Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CARA)

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) and Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CARA) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.7% of Cara Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.0% of Ascendis Pharma A/S shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Cara Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ascendis Pharma A/S and Cara Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascendis Pharma A/S	$317.63 million	26.56	-$521.07 million	($9.61)	-15.08
Cara Therapeutics	$11.00 million	1.39	-$118.51 million	($2.25)	-0.12

Cara Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ascendis Pharma A/S. Ascendis Pharma A/S is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cara Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Ascendis Pharma A/S and Cara Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascendis Pharma A/S	0	1	13	0	2.93
Cara Therapeutics	0	6	0	0	2.00

Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus target price of $195.00, indicating a potential upside of 34.58%. Cara Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $2.32, indicating a potential upside of 729.46%. Given Cara Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cara Therapeutics is more favorable than Ascendis Pharma A/S.

Risk and Volatility

Ascendis Pharma A/S has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cara Therapeutics has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ascendis Pharma A/S and Cara Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascendis Pharma A/S	-154.18%	-16,574.15%	-59.81%
Cara Therapeutics	-1,010.20%	-241.31%	-110.04%

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapies for unmet medical needs. It offers SKYTROFA for treating patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The company is also developing a pipeline of three independent endocrinology rare disease product candidates in clinical development, as well as focuses on advancing oncology therapeutic candidates. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark.

About Cara Therapeutics

Cara Therapeutics, Inc., a development-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapeutics treatment of chronic pruritus in the United States. The company's lead product is KORSUVA (difelikefalin) injection for the treatment of moderate-to-severe pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults undergoing hemodialysis. It also develops Oral difelikefalin, which is in Phase II/III clinical trial to treat chronic pruritus with notalgia paresthetica. The company has license agreements with Maruishi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd to develop, manufacture, and commercialize drug products containing difelikefalin for acute pain and uremic pruritus in Japan; Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma Ltd. development and commercialization of KORSUVA injection for the treatment of moderate-to-severe pruritus in adult patients undergoing hemodialysis; and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corporation to develop, manufacture, and commercialize drug products containing difelikefalin in South Korea. Cara Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.