Critical Survey: Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO) vs. Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO)

Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO) and Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Aptose Biosciences and Mesoblast’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aptose Biosciences	N/A	-1,003.74%	-257.64%
Mesoblast	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

26.6% of Aptose Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.4% of Mesoblast shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Aptose Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.8% of Mesoblast shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Aptose Biosciences has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesoblast has a beta of 3.45, meaning that its stock price is 245% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aptose Biosciences and Mesoblast’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aptose Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$51.21 million	($6.20)	-0.18
Mesoblast	$7.50 million	124.53	-$81.89 million	($1.12)	-7.30

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Aptose Biosciences and Mesoblast, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aptose Biosciences	0	0	6	0	3.00
Mesoblast	1	3	2	0	2.17

Aptose Biosciences currently has a consensus price target of $17.50, indicating a potential upside of 1,483.71%. Mesoblast has a consensus price target of $13.67, indicating a potential upside of 67.28%. Given Aptose Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Aptose Biosciences is more favorable than Mesoblast.

About Aptose Biosciences

Aptose Biosciences Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops personalized therapies addressing unmet medical needs in oncology in Canada. Its lead clinical program is APTO-253, which is a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. The company has an agreement with CrystalGenomics, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize CG026806, a non-covalent small molecule therapeutic agent, which is in preclinical stage for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/mantle cell lymphoma. The company was formerly known as Lorus Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Aptose Biosciences Inc. in August 2014. Aptose Biosciences Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.

About Mesoblast

Mesoblast Limited engages in the development of regenerative medicine products in Australia, the United States, Singapore, and Switzerland. The company offers products in the areas of cardiovascular, spine orthopedic disorder, oncology, hematology, and immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases. Its proprietary regenerative medicine technology platform is based on specialized cells known as mesenchymal lineage cells. The company offers Remestemcel-L that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of systemic inflammatory diseases, including steroid refractory acute graft versus host disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and biologic refractory inflammatory bowel disease; and Remestemcel-L, which is in Phase III clinical trials to treat chronic heart failure and chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease. It is also developing MPC-300-IV to treat biologic refractory rheumatoid arthritis diabetic nephropathy; and MPC-25-IC for the treatment or prevention of acute myocardial infarction. It has strategic partnerships with Tasly Pharmaceutical Group to offer MPC-150-IM for heart failure and MPC-25-IC for heart attacks in China; JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. to treat wound healing in patients with epidermolysis bullosa; and Grünenthal to develops and commercializes cell therapy for the treatment of chronic low back pain. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.