Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR – Get Free Report) and Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and Protara Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Nektar Therapeutics | -192.87% | -456.53% | -57.80% |
| Protara Therapeutics | N/A | -35.13% | -32.47% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations for Nektar Therapeutics and Protara Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Nektar Therapeutics | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2.78 |
| Protara Therapeutics | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2.86 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
75.9% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.1% of Protara Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Protara Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Nektar Therapeutics has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Protara Therapeutics has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and Protara Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Nektar Therapeutics | $98.43 million | 15.16 | -$118.96 million | ($7.97) | -9.20 |
| Protara Therapeutics | N/A | N/A | -$44.60 million | ($1.43) | -4.77 |
Protara Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nektar Therapeutics. Nektar Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Protara Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Protara Therapeutics beats Nektar Therapeutics on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Nektar Therapeutics
Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in the field of immunotherapy in the United States and internationally. The company is developing rezpegaldesleukin, a cytokine Treg stimulant that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis, as well as phase 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer. It has collaboration agreements with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.; AstraZeneca AB; UCB Pharma S.A.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; Bausch Health Companies Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Amgen Inc.; UCB Pharma (Biogen); Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Merck KGaA; and SFJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
About Protara Therapeutics
Protara Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in advancing transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases. The company's lead program is TARA-002, an investigational cell therapy, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and lymphatic malformations. It is also developing intravenous choline chloride, an investigational phospholipid substrate replacement therapy that is in Phase II clinical trial for patients receiving parenteral nutrition. The company is headquartered in New York, New York.
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