Reviewing Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) and CohBar (NASDAQ:CWBR)

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) and CohBar (NASDAQ:CWBR) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Merus has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CohBar has a beta of 1.52, meaning that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Merus and CohBar’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merus	$43.95 million	58.93	-$154.94 million	($3.04)	-14.72
CohBar	N/A	N/A	-$12.18 million	($4.36)	-0.23

CohBar has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Merus. Merus is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CohBar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.1% of Merus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.5% of CohBar shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Merus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of CohBar shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Merus and CohBar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merus	-352.56%	-50.61%	-37.56%
CohBar	N/A	-78.10%	-74.23%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Merus and CohBar, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merus	0	0	11	0	3.00
CohBar	0	0	0	0	N/A

Merus currently has a consensus target price of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.20%. Given Merus’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Merus is more favorable than CohBar.

Summary

Merus beats CohBar on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Merus

Merus N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, engages in the development of antibody therapeutics in the Netherlands. Its bispecific antibody candidate pipeline includes Zenocutuzumab (MCLA-128), which is in a phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer, as well as in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors that harbor Neuregulin 1. The company is also developing MCLA-158, which is in a phase I clinical trial for the treatment of solid tumors; MCLA-145, which is in phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors; MCLA-129, which is in phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumors; and ONO-4685 that is Phase 1 clinical trial to treat relapsed/refractory T cell lymphoma. In addition, it has collaboration agreement with Betta Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd for the research and development of stage bispecific antibody candidates include MCLA-129; collaboration with Incyte Corporation for the development of MCLA-145; and collaboration with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to discover novel antibody-based trispecific T-cell engagers. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

About CohBar

CohBar, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, develops mitochondria and peptides based therapeutics for the treatment of chronic and age-related diseases. It develops CB4211, a therapeutic that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and obesity; and CB5138 Analogs, which is in preclinical study to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other fibrotic diseases. CohBar, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Menlo Park, California.