Critical Review: Clene (CLNN) and Its Peers

Clene (NASDAQ:CLNN) is one of 894 publicly-traded companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Clene to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Clene and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clene	-11,274.79%	N/A	-77.56%
Clene Competitors	-2,393.16%	-220.83%	-16.11%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.3% of Clene shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are owned by institutional investors. 28.3% of Clene shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Clene and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clene	$238,000.00	-$26.17 million	-1.62
Clene Competitors	$5.31 billion	$3.20 billion	555.02

Clene’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Clene. Clene is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk & Volatility

Clene has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clene’s competitors have a beta of -0.05, suggesting that their average stock price is 105% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Clene and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clene	1	0	6	0	2.71
Clene Competitors	7815	13774	25777	1035	2.41

Clene presently has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 709.52%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 23.86%. Given Clene’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Clene is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Clene competitors beat Clene on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

Clene Company Profile

Clene Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing nanotherapeutic treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s lead product candidate, CNM-Au8, is an investigational oral suspension containing catalytically active gold nanocrystals designed to support cellular energy production and reduce oxidative stress, with the goal of protecting and improving the function of nerve cells. Clene has studied CNM-Au8 in conditions including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS), and has also investigated its potential applications in other neurodegenerative disorders.