Provectus Biopharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:PVCT) vs. Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Critical Review

Provectus Biopharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:PVCT) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Provectus Biopharmaceuticals and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Provectus Biopharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	0	0	6	0	3.00

Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $176.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.00%. Given Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ligand Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Provectus Biopharmaceuticals.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Provectus Biopharmaceuticals and Ligand Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Provectus Biopharmaceuticals	$620,000.00	44.06	-$4.76 million	N/A	N/A
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	$167.13 million	19.53	-$4.03 million	($4.00)	-41.63

Ligand Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Provectus Biopharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Provectus Biopharmaceuticals and Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Provectus Biopharmaceuticals	-1,374.19%	N/A	-792.87%
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	-40.44%	-9.21%	-8.09%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Provectus Biopharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.3% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 14.7% of Provectus Biopharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Provectus Biopharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ligand Pharmaceuticals beats Provectus Biopharmaceuticals on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Provectus Biopharmaceuticals

Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing immunotherapy medicines based on halogenated xanthenes in the United States. The company's lead molecule is rose bengal sodium (RBS). Its clinical development programs include PV-10 for the treatment of stage III and IV melanoma and different types of liver cancers; PH-10 for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, and skin inflammation; and PV-305 for the treatment of infectious keratitis. It is also developing oral formulations for adult solid tumor cancers, as well as refractory and relapsed pediatric, and other blood cancers comprising leukemias; PV-10 for the treatment of relapsed and refractory pediatric solid tumor cancers; and other formulations for the treatment of cutaneous canine cancers and healing of full-thickness cutaneous wounds. In addition, the company develops oral and intranasal formulations for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial infections; oral bacterial infections; and fungal infections, as well as vertebrate development, wound healing, and tissue regrowth. It has collaboration agreement with Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; and University of Miami. The company was formerly known as Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. in December 2013. Provectus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children. The company also offers TZIELD, a CD3-directed antibody indicated to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes (T1D) in adults and children aged 8 years and older with Stage 2 T1D; Nexterone, a captisol-enabled formulation of amiodarone; Zulresso, a captisol-enabled formulation of brexanolone for the treatment of postpartum depression; and Veklury, an antiviral treatment for moderate or severe COVID-19. In addition, it provides Noxafil-IV, a captisol-enabled formulation of posaconazole for IV use; Duavee for the treatment of post-menopausal symptoms in women; Exemptia for autoimmune diseases; Vivitra for breast cancer; and Bryxta and Zybev for various indications. The company has alliances, licenses, and other business relationships with Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Jazz, Takeda, Gilead Sciences, and Baxter International. Further, it sells Captisol materials. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Jupiter, Florida.