Analyzing HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB) and Inozyme Pharma (NASDAQ:INZY)

Inozyme Pharma (NASDAQ:INZY) and HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Inozyme Pharma and HCW Biologics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Inozyme Pharma	N/A	-88.42%	-57.02%
HCW Biologics	-978.03%	-385.90%	-126.44%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Inozyme Pharma and HCW Biologics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Inozyme Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$71.17 million	($1.56)	-2.28
HCW Biologics	$2.84 million	4.13	-$24.99 million	($1.04)	-0.30

HCW Biologics has higher revenue and earnings than Inozyme Pharma. Inozyme Pharma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCW Biologics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.3% of Inozyme Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.0% of HCW Biologics shares are held by institutional investors. 11.2% of Inozyme Pharma shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 49.9% of HCW Biologics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Inozyme Pharma has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCW Biologics has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Inozyme Pharma and HCW Biologics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Inozyme Pharma	0	0	7	0	3.00
HCW Biologics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Inozyme Pharma presently has a consensus price target of $15.71, suggesting a potential upside of 342.66%. Given Inozyme Pharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Inozyme Pharma is more favorable than HCW Biologics.

Summary

Inozyme Pharma beats HCW Biologics on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Inozyme Pharma

Inozyme Pharma, Inc., a clinical-stage rare disease biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of vasculature, soft tissue, and skeleton diseases. The company's lead product candidate is INZ-701, a soluble, recombinant, genetically engineered, and fusion protein for the treatment of ENPP1 and ABCC6 deficiencies, as well as patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving hemodialysis. It has a license agreement with Yale University for specified therapeutic and prophylactic products. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About HCW Biologics

HCW Biologics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing novel immunotherapies for chronic, low-grade inflammation, and age-related diseases in the United States. The company's lead products include HCW9218, which is in Phase 1 clinical chemo-refractory/chemo-resistant solid tumors with pancreatic, ovarian, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, as well as Phase 2 clinical trial with metastatic advanced stage ovarian cancer patients; and HCW9302 for autoimmune and proinflammatory diseases, such as alopecia areata diseases. It also develops HCW9201, a cell-based therapy that is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia; and HCW9206, an injectable immunotherapeutic to use as adjuvant for adoptive cell therapy in cancer treatment. HCW Biologics Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Miramar, Florida.