Analyzing Cogent Biosciences (NASDAQ:COGT) and Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN)

Cogent Biosciences (NASDAQ:COGT) and Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Cogent Biosciences has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arvinas has a beta of 1.98, meaning that its share price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Cogent Biosciences and Arvinas, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cogent Biosciences	0	2	5	0	2.71
Arvinas	0	2	14	0	2.88

Cogent Biosciences currently has a consensus price target of $14.67, indicating a potential upside of 70.34%. Arvinas has a consensus price target of $61.13, indicating a potential upside of 114.35%. Given Arvinas’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Arvinas is more favorable than Cogent Biosciences.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cogent Biosciences and Arvinas’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cogent Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$192.41 million	($2.48)	-3.47
Arvinas	$71.30 million	27.37	-$367.30 million	($5.93)	-4.81

Cogent Biosciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Arvinas. Arvinas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cogent Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.2% of Arvinas shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Cogent Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Arvinas shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cogent Biosciences and Arvinas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cogent Biosciences	N/A	-91.56%	-55.20%
Arvinas	N/A	-64.79%	-30.46%

Summary

Arvinas beats Cogent Biosciences on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cogent Biosciences

Cogent Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on developing precision therapies for genetically defined diseases. Its lead product candidate includes bezuclastinib (CGT9486), a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor designed to target mutations within the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase, including KIT D816V KIT D816V mutation that drives systemic mastocytosis, as well as other mutations in KIT exon 17, which are found in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors. The company has a licensing agreement with Plexxikon Inc. for the research, development, and commercialization of bezuclastinib. The company was formerly known as Unum Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Cogent Biosciences, Inc. in October 2020. Cogent Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About Arvinas

Arvinas, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies to degrade disease-causing proteins. The company engineers proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTAC) targeted protein degraders that are designed to harness the body's own natural protein disposal system to degrade and remove disease-causing proteins. Its product pipeline includes Bavdegalutamide and ARV-766, investigational orally bioavailable PROTAC protein degraders for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, which are in Phase 1/2 clinical trials; and ARV-471, an orally bioavailable estrogen receptor degrading PROTAC targeted protein degrader for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor+/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-breast cancer, which is Phase 3 clinical trial. Arvinas, Inc. has collaborations with Pfizer Inc., Genentech, Inc., F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., Carrick Therapeutics Limited, and Bayer AG. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.