Comparing Assembly Biosciences (ASMB) & Its Peers

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) is one of 897 publicly-traded companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Assembly Biosciences to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Assembly Biosciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Assembly Biosciences has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assembly Biosciences’ rivals have a beta of -3.75, meaning that their average share price is 475% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assembly Biosciences	$72.30 million	-$6.12 million	19.74
Assembly Biosciences Competitors	$3.55 billion	$3.19 billion	547.84

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Assembly Biosciences and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assembly Biosciences	1	0	4	1	2.83
Assembly Biosciences Competitors	7765	13847	25696	1031	2.41

Assembly Biosciences presently has a consensus price target of $47.50, suggesting a potential upside of 135.97%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 24.30%. Given Assembly Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Assembly Biosciences is more favorable than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assembly Biosciences	-0.06%	-0.02%	-0.02%
Assembly Biosciences Competitors	-2,380.90%	-221.90%	-15.99%

Summary

Assembly Biosciences beats its rivals on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial. The company also develops ABI-4334, a next-generation capsid assembly modulator, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV). In addition, it develops an oral non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor targeting transplant-related herpesviruses; and a small molecule interferon-a receptor agonist targeting HBV and HDV. The company has collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. and BeiGene, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. and changed its name to Assembly Biosciences, Inc. in June 2014. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.