Head to Head Analysis: Acerus Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:ASPCF) vs. Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG)

Acerus Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:ASPCF) and Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

32.5% of Galapagos shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Galapagos shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Acerus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Galapagos has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Acerus Pharmaceuticals and Galapagos’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acerus Pharmaceuticals	$2.12 million	0.80	-$33.82 million	($3.57)	-0.06
Galapagos	$259.40 million	6.65	$229.12 million	N/A	N/A

Galapagos has higher revenue and earnings than Acerus Pharmaceuticals.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Acerus Pharmaceuticals and Galapagos, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acerus Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	N/A
Galapagos	1	2	0	0	1.67

Galapagos has a consensus price target of $34.50, indicating a potential upside of 31.88%. Given Galapagos’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Galapagos is more favorable than Acerus Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Acerus Pharmaceuticals and Galapagos’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acerus Pharmaceuticals	-924.33%	N/A	-74.62%
Galapagos	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Galapagos beats Acerus Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acerus Pharmaceuticals

Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corp. is a pharmaceutical company. The firm is focused on the commercialization and development of prescription products that improve patient experience, with a focus in the field of men’s health. It focuses on therapeutics for urology, andrology, and endocrinology. Its products include Estrace and Natesto. The company was founded by Bruce D. Brydon, Rolf K. Reininghaus and Mark L. Thompson on September 9, 2008 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.

About Galapagos

Galapagos NV, a biotechnology company, develops medicines focusing on oncology and immunology primarily in the United States and Europe. The company's pipeline products comprise GLPG3667 that has completed phase 1b trial; GLPG5101, a CD19 CAR-T product candidate manufactured at point-of-care, currently in Phase1/2 trial in relapsed/refractory non-hodgkin lymphoma; GLPG5201, a CD19 CAR-T product candidates manufactured at point-of-care, currently in phase 1/2 trial in replapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and GLPG5301, a BCMA CAR-T product candidate manufactured at point-of-care, currently in phase 1/2 in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The company has collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc.; and AbbVie S.à r.l. Galapagos NV was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium.