Reviewing Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX) and Sera Prognostics (NASDAQ:SERA)

Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX) and Sera Prognostics (NASDAQ:SERA) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

55.3% of Oncocyte shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.6% of Sera Prognostics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Oncocyte shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of Sera Prognostics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Oncocyte and Sera Prognostics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oncocyte	-2,955.63%	N/A	-107.52%
Sera Prognostics	-47,475.72%	-46.71%	-34.06%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Oncocyte and Sera Prognostics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oncocyte	$4.05 million	25.69	-$50.22 million	($1.49)	-2.13
Sera Prognostics	$80,000.00	996.11	-$31.93 million	($0.67)	-3.01

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

Volatility and Risk

Oncocyte has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sera Prognostics has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Oncocyte and Sera Prognostics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oncocyte	1	0	2	0	2.33
Sera Prognostics	1	0	1	1	2.67

Oncocyte presently has a consensus price target of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 230.19%. Sera Prognostics has a consensus price target of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 172.28%. Given Oncocyte’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Oncocyte is more favorable than Sera Prognostics.

Summary

Oncocyte beats Sera Prognostics on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oncocyte

OncoCyte Corporation, a molecular diagnostics company, researches, develops, and commercializes proprietary laboratory-developed tests for the detection of cancer in the United States and internationally. The company offers DetermaRx, a molecular test for early-stage adenocarcinoma of the lung; and DetermaIO, a proprietary gene expression assay. It also provides biomarker discovery testing, assay design and development, and clinical trial support services, as well as various biomarker tests for pharmaceutical companies. The company has a collaboration agreement with Life Technologies Corporation to develop and collaborate in the commercialization of Oncomine Comprehensive Assay Plus and Determa IO assay for use with Ion Torrent Genexus integrated sequencer and purification system. OncoCyte Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Irvine, California.

About Sera Prognostics

Sera Prognostics, Inc., a women's health diagnostic company, discovers, develops, and commercializes biomarker tests for improving pregnancy outcomes in the United States. The company develops PreTRM test, a blood-based biomarker test to predict the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in singleton pregnancies. It is also developing a portfolio of product candidates for various pregnancy-related conditions, including preterm birth, preeclampsia, molecular time-to-birth, predictive analytics, gestational diabetes mellitus, fetal growth restriction, stillbirth, and postpartum depression. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.