Contrasting Lipocine (NASDAQ:LPCN) and Veru (NASDAQ:VERU)

Veru (NASDAQ:VERU) and Lipocine (NASDAQ:LPCN) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

47.2% of Veru shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.1% of Lipocine shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.2% of Veru shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Lipocine shares are owned by 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Veru and Lipocine”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veru	$16.89 million	2.33	-$22.73 million	($0.69)	-3.35
Lipocine	$1.98 million	6.37	-$9.63 million	($1.79)	-0.85

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

Risk & Volatility

Veru has a beta of -1.21, meaning that its share price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lipocine has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Veru and Lipocine, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veru	1	0	3	0	2.50
Lipocine	1	1	1	0	2.00

Veru currently has a consensus price target of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 960.61%. Lipocine has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 161.44%. Given Veru’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Veru is more favorable than Lipocine.

Profitability

This table compares Veru and Lipocine’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veru	N/A	-47.58%	-35.83%
Lipocine	-755.39%	-64.75%	-57.62%

Summary

Veru beats Lipocine on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Veru

Veru Inc., a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing medicines for treatment of metabolic diseases, oncology, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Its marketed products comprise FC2 female condom for the dual protection against unplanned pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. The company’s development program includes enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator for treatment of augment fat loss and to prevent muscle loss in sarcopenic obese and overweight elderly patients; Enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator for the treatment of AR+ ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer; and sabizabulin, a microtubule disruptor for the treatment of hospitalized patients with viral lung infection on oxygen support who are at high risk for viral induced ARDS and death. The company was formerly known as The Female Health Company and changed its name to Veru Inc. in July 2017. Veru Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Lipocine

Lipocine Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research and development for the delivery of drugs for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Its lead product candidate is TLANDO, an oral testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) comprising testosterone undecanoate. The company's pipeline candidates also include TLANDO XR a candidate for oral TRT for once daily dosing, which has completed Phase 2b clinical study; LPCN 1148, an oral prodrug of bioidentical testosterone, being developed for the treatment of cirrhosis, currently under Phase 2 clinical studies; LPCN 1154, An oral neurosteroid, being developed for the treatment of postpartum depression, currently under Phase 2 studies; LPCN 2101, a NAS candidate, for women with epilepsy; and LPCN 2203 for essential tremor. It is also involved in the development of LPCN 1144, an oral prodrug of bioidentical testosterone for the treatment of pre-cirrhotic non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which has completed Phase 2 testing; and LPCN 1107, an oral product candidate of 17-alpha-hydroxy progesterone caproate product, currently under Phase 3 studies for the prevention of recurrent preterm birth. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.