Head-To-Head Review: Mural Oncology (NASDAQ:MURA) versus Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID)

Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID) and Mural Oncology (NASDAQ:MURA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Ovid Therapeutics and Mural Oncology, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ovid Therapeutics	0	2	4	0	2.67
Mural Oncology	0	0	2	0	3.00

Ovid Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $4.70, indicating a potential upside of 315.93%. Mural Oncology has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 321.69%. Given Mural Oncology’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mural Oncology is more favorable than Ovid Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Ovid Therapeutics and Mural Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ovid Therapeutics	-5,237.15%	-33.40%	-22.94%
Mural Oncology	N/A	-99.54%	-83.48%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.2% of Ovid Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.2% of Mural Oncology shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Ovid Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Mural Oncology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ovid Therapeutics and Mural Oncology’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ovid Therapeutics	$390,000.00	205.63	-$52.34 million	($0.73)	-1.55
Mural Oncology	N/A	N/A	-$207.45 million	N/A	N/A

Ovid Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Mural Oncology.

Summary

Ovid Therapeutics beats Mural Oncology on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ovid Therapeutics

Ovid Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of impactful medicines for patients and families with epilepsies and seizure-related neurological disorders in the United States. The company is developing soticlestat, a novel cholesterol 24 hydroxylase inhibitor, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the potential treatment of patients with resistant epilepsies; OV329, a GABA aminotransferase inhibitor which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex and infantile spasms; and OV350, a small molecule direct activator of the KCC2 transporter, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treating epilepsies. It also develops OV815, that focuses on the mutations associated with KIF1A-associated neurological disorder (KAND); OV888 (GV101), a highly selective rock2 inhibitor which is in Phase 1 double-blind multiple-ascending dose trial; OV825, has advanced to potential candidate lead identification for the rare neurodevelopmental condition HNRNPH2 (Bain Syndrome); and OV882, a short hairpin RNA gene therapy for the treatment of Angelman syndrome. The company has license and collaboration agreements with Healx, AstraZeneca AB, H. Lundbeck A/S, Northwestern University, and Graviton, as well as Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Mural Oncology

Mural Oncology plc, a clinical-stage oncology company, focuses on discovering and developing immunotherapies for the treatment of patients with cancer. The company's lead product candidate includes nemvaleukin alfa for the treatment of mucosal melanoma as a monotherapy and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in combination with pembrolizumab. It also develops nemvaleukin to treat cutaneous melanoma and advanced solid tumors. The company is also developing engineered interleukin-18 and tumor-targeted interleukin-12 programs. Mural Oncology plc was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.