Reviewing Shattuck Labs (NASDAQ:STTK) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO)

Shattuck Labs (NASDAQ:STTK) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Shattuck Labs and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shattuck Labs	1	0	9	3	3.08
Inovio Pharmaceuticals	1	2	5	0	2.50

Shattuck Labs currently has a consensus target price of $13.70, indicating a potential upside of 147.29%. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $3.17, indicating a potential upside of 264.07%. Given Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Inovio Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Shattuck Labs.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.7% of Shattuck Labs shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of Shattuck Labs shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by 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 & Earnings

This table compares Shattuck Labs and Inovio Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shattuck Labs	$1.00 million	555.99	-$48.81 million	($0.51)	-10.86
Inovio Pharmaceuticals	$60,000.00	1,498.96	-$84.95 million	($0.91)	-0.96

Shattuck Labs has higher revenue and earnings than Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Shattuck Labs is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Inovio Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Shattuck Labs has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Shattuck Labs and Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shattuck Labs	N/A	-43.57%	-40.90%
Inovio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-669.94%	-73.97%

Summary

Shattuck Labs beats Inovio Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shattuck Labs

Shattuck Labs, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is SL-172154, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers. Shattuck Labs, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of DNA medicines to treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines platform uses precisely designed SynCon that identify and optimize the DNA sequence of the target antigen, as well as CELLECTRA smart devices technology that facilitates delivery of the DNA plasmids. Its products in pipeline include VGX-3100 for the treatment of HPV-related cervical high-grade dysplasia; INO-3107 for HPV-related recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and is under Phase 1/2 trial; INO-3112 for the treatment of HPV-related Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and is under Phase 2 trial; INO-5401 for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme and is under Phase 2 trial; INO-4201 for Ebola Virus Disease and is under Phase 1b trial; INO-4800 for COVID-19 and is under Phase 3 trial; and INO-6160 for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus and is under Phase 1 trial. Its partners and collaborators include Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co, ApolloBio Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The U.S. Department of Defense, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, International Vaccine Institute, Kaneka Eurogentec, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Plumbline Life Sciences, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Richter-Helm BioLogics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, the University of Pennsylvania, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The Wistar Institute. The company was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.