Critical Survey: Adherex Technologies (FENC) versus Its Rivals

Adherex Technologies (NASDAQ:FENC) is one of 894 publicly-traded companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Adherex Technologies to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Adherex Technologies and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Adherex Technologies	-6.09%	-5.71%	-2.37%
Adherex Technologies Competitors	-2,393.19%	-220.45%	-16.12%

Risk & Volatility

Adherex Technologies has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Adherex Technologies’ competitors have a beta of -0.08, suggesting that their average share price is 108% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Adherex Technologies and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Adherex Technologies	$44.64 million	-$9.74 million	-89.53
Adherex Technologies Competitors	$3.54 billion	$3.17 billion	555.04

Adherex Technologies’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Adherex Technologies. Adherex Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Adherex Technologies and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Adherex Technologies	1	1	4	0	2.50
Adherex Technologies Competitors	7820	13786	25802	1036	2.41

Adherex Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 46.06%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 24.66%. Given Adherex Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Adherex Technologies is more favorable than its competitors.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.5% of Adherex Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are owned by institutional investors. 10.7% of Adherex Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Adherex Technologies beats its competitors on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Adherex Technologies

Adherex Technologies was a biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for cancer. In 2014, the company changed its name to Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Fennec later adopted the Nasdaq ticker FENC. Fennec is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on therapies that address complications of cancer treatment. Its principal product is PEDMARK, a sodium thiosulfate injection approved in the United States to reduce the risk of cisplatin-related hearing damage in certain pediatric patients with cancer.