Comparing Assembly Biosciences (ASMB) and Its Competitors

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) is one of 896 public companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Assembly Biosciences to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and its peers’ 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	-2,380.39%	-218.78%	-15.59%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assembly Biosciences	$74.84 million	-$6.12 million	20.49
Assembly Biosciences Competitors	$5.43 billion	$3.22 billion	553.82

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

Volatility & Risk

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’ peers have a beta of -3.71, meaning that their average share price is 471% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.6% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Assembly Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.2% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Assembly Biosciences and its peers, as provided 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	7798	13891	25786	1038	2.41

Assembly Biosciences presently has a consensus target price of $46.50, suggesting a potential upside of 122.48%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 24.74%. Given Assembly Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Assembly Biosciences is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

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

Assembly Biosciences Company Profile

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.