Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA – Get Free Report) and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
96.8% of Aura Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Aura Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Aura Biosciences and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Aura Biosciences | N/A | N/A | -$76.41 million | ($1.73) | -4.28 |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | $182.95 million | 9.75 | -$135.89 million | ($3.10) | -14.99 |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Aura Biosciences and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Aura Biosciences | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3.29 |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3.00 |
Aura Biosciences presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 210.81%. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $63.67, suggesting a potential upside of 37.01%. Given Aura Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Aura Biosciences is more favorable than Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.
Profitability
This table compares Aura Biosciences and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Aura Biosciences | N/A | -41.57% | -36.43% |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | -103.64% | -55.86% | -39.28% |
Risk and Volatility
Aura Biosciences has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Aura Biosciences beats Tarsus Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Aura Biosciences
Aura Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops precision immunotherapies to treat a range of solid tumors. The company's proprietary platform enables the targeting of a range of solid tumors using virus-like particles conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create virus-like drug conjugates. Its lead candidate is bel-sar, which is in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of patients with primary choroidal melanoma and other ocular oncology indications, as well as in early-stage clinical development in bladder cancer. The company also focuses on assessing the safety and efficacy of bel-sar in treating a range of other solid tumors, including bladder cancer as an alternative to bacillus calmetteguérin therapy. Aura Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
About Tarsus Pharmaceuticals
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic candidates for eye care in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is XDEMVY, a novel therapeutic for the treatment of blepharitis caused by the infestation of Demodex mites, as well as to treat meibomian gland disease. It is developing TP-04 for the treatment of rosacea; and TP-05 for Lyme prophylaxis and community malaria reduction. In addition, the company develops lotilaner to address diseases across therapeutic categories in human medicine, including eye care, dermatology, and other infectious disease prevention. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
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