Analyzing Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) & Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID)

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) and Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and Ovid Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	1	2	10	0	2.69
Ovid Therapeutics	0	1	5	1	3.00

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $351.67, indicating a potential upside of 3.47%. Ovid Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $4.03, indicating a potential upside of 543.99%. Given Ovid Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ovid Therapeutics is more favorable than Madrigal Pharmaceuticals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.5% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of Ovid Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 22.8% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.3% of Ovid Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -0.38, suggesting that its share price is 138% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ovid Therapeutics has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and Ovid Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$373.63 million	($25.08)	-13.55
Ovid Therapeutics	$390,000.00	114.03	-$52.34 million	($0.47)	-1.33

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

Profitability

This table compares Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and Ovid Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-71.78%	-53.25%
Ovid Therapeutics	-5,142.56%	-39.24%	-26.19%

Summary

Ovid Therapeutics beats Madrigal Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutics for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the United States. Its lead product candidate is resmetirom, a liver-directed thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for treating NASH. The company is headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

About Ovid Therapeutics

Ovid Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of impactful medicines for patients and families with epilepsies and seizure-related neurological disorders in the United States. The company is developing soticlestat, a novel cholesterol 24 hydroxylase inhibitor, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the potential treatment of patients with resistant epilepsies; OV329, a GABA aminotransferase inhibitor which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex and infantile spasms; and OV350, a small molecule direct activator of the KCC2 transporter, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treating epilepsies. It also develops OV815, that focuses on the mutations associated with KIF1A-associated neurological disorder (KAND); OV888 (GV101), a highly selective rock2 inhibitor which is in Phase 1 double-blind multiple-ascending dose trial; OV825, has advanced to potential candidate lead identification for the rare neurodevelopmental condition HNRNPH2 (Bain Syndrome); and OV882, a short hairpin RNA gene therapy for the treatment of Angelman syndrome. The company has license and collaboration agreements with Healx, AstraZeneca AB, H. Lundbeck A/S, Northwestern University, and Graviton, as well as Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.