Comparing Molecular Partners (NASDAQ:MOLN) & bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE)

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) and Molecular Partners (NASDAQ:MOLN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.4% of bluebird bio shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.5% of Molecular Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of bluebird bio shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Molecular Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares bluebird bio and Molecular Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
bluebird bio	$54.90 million	0.92	-$211.91 million	($0.74)	-0.63
Molecular Partners	$7.86 million	25.39	-$69.04 million	($1.98)	-2.75

Molecular Partners has lower revenue, but higher earnings than bluebird bio. Molecular Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than bluebird bio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

bluebird bio has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Molecular Partners has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares bluebird bio and Molecular Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
bluebird bio	-567.29%	-207.25%	-51.70%
Molecular Partners	-730.27%	-33.15%	-29.89%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for bluebird bio and Molecular Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
bluebird bio	1	7	4	0	2.25
Molecular Partners	0	1	0	1	3.00

bluebird bio presently has a consensus target price of $4.63, indicating a potential upside of 898.56%. Molecular Partners has a consensus target price of $4.50, indicating a potential downside of 17.28%. Given bluebird bio’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe bluebird bio is more favorable than Molecular Partners.

Summary

Molecular Partners beats bluebird bio on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About bluebird bio

bluebird bio, Inc., a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. The company’s clinical development programs include HGB-205, HGB-206, and HGB-210 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lovo-cel in the treatment of patients with SCD; and HGB-204, HGB-205, HGB-207, and HGB-212 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of beti-cel in the treatment of patients with ß-thalassemia. It has license agreement with Orchard Therapeutics Limited. The company was formerly known as Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and changed its name to bluebird bio, Inc. in September 2010. bluebird bio, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts.

About Molecular Partners

Molecular Partners AG, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops designed ankyrin repeat proteins therapeutics for the treatment of oncology and virology diseases in Switzerland. The company develops MP0317, a CD40 agonist designed to activate immune cells within the tumor microenvironment by anchoring to fibroblast activation protein that is in Phase I clinical trial; and MP0533, a novel tetra-specific T cell-engaging DARPin for acute myeloid leukemia. It also develops Switch-DARPin platform, a multispecific cKIT x CD16a x CD47 Switch-DARPin program for targeted and conditional immune cell activation; and Radio-DARPin Therapy (RDT) platform, a delivery system for effective and selective delivery of radioactive payloads to solid tumors. It has license and research collaboration agreements with Novartis Pharma AG to develop DARPin-conjugated radioligand therapies; and collaboration agreement with Orano Med SAS to develop novel Radio-DARPin therapeutics. Molecular Partners AG was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Schlieren, Switzerland.