Critical Contrast: Sensei Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:SNSE) & Immunic (NASDAQ:IMUX)

Sensei Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:SNSE) and Immunic (NASDAQ:IMUX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Sensei Biotherapeutics and Immunic, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sensei Biotherapeutics	0	0	3	0	3.00
Immunic	0	0	2	0	3.00

Sensei Biotherapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $4.33, indicating a potential upside of 582.31%. Immunic has a consensus price target of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 632.76%. Given Immunic’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Immunic is more favorable than Sensei Biotherapeutics.

Risk and Volatility

Sensei Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its stock price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Immunic has a beta of 1.77, suggesting that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sensei Biotherapeutics and Immunic’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sensei Biotherapeutics	N/A	-46.67%	-40.88%
Immunic	N/A	-161.82%	-118.57%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sensei Biotherapeutics and Immunic’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sensei Biotherapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$34.10 million	($1.21)	-0.52
Immunic	N/A	N/A	-$93.61 million	($1.83)	-0.63

Immunic is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sensei Biotherapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

10.5% of Sensei Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.8% of Immunic shares are held by institutional investors. 25.5% of Sensei Biotherapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Immunic shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Sensei Biotherapeutics beats Immunic on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sensei Biotherapeutics

Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc., an immuno-oncology company, engages in the discovery and development of therapeutics for cancer patients. The company's Tumor Microenvironment Activated Biologics platform is designed to generate highly selective therapeutics that disable immunosuppressive signals or activate immunostimulatory signals selectively in the tumor microenvironment. It also offers SNS-101, an active monoclonal antibody that is in clinical Phase 1/2 targeting the immune checkpoint VISTA for the treatment of solid tumors. The company's pipeline includes SNS-103 and SNS-102, an active monoclonal antibody, which are in early development stages for the treatment of solid tumors, as well as SNS-201 is a bispecific antibody targeting CD28. It has a collaboration with The University of Washington to conduct preclinical studies for its SNS-101 program. The company was formerly known as Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

About Immunic

Immunic, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops a pipeline of selective oral immunology therapies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in the United States and Germany. Its lead development program is IMU-838, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial, for treatment of multiple sclerosis, including relapsing and progressive multiple sclerosis; and moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis. The company is also developing IMU-856, which is entering Phase 2 clinical trial, for the restoration of the intestinal barrier function in patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases, such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, short bowel syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, and other intestinal barrier function diseases; and IMU-381, which is in preclinical trial, for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Immunic, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York.