Reviewing Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) and Alterity Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATHE)

Alterity Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATHE) and Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Alterity Therapeutics and Athira Pharma, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alterity Therapeutics	1	1	1	0	2.00
Athira Pharma	1	0	0	0	1.00

Athira Pharma has a consensus price target of $4.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.83%. Given Athira Pharma’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Athira Pharma is more favorable than Alterity Therapeutics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

2.1% of Alterity Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Athira Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 38.8% of Alterity Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of Athira Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Alterity Therapeutics and Athira Pharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alterity Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A
Athira Pharma	N/A	-107.06%	-89.89%

Risk & Volatility

Alterity Therapeutics has a beta of 0.11, meaning that its stock price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Athira Pharma has a beta of 2.79, meaning that its stock price is 179% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alterity Therapeutics and Athira Pharma”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alterity Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$7.87 million	N/A	N/A
Athira Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$96.94 million	($9.68)	-0.45

Summary

Alterity Therapeutics beats Athira Pharma on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alterity Therapeutics

Alterity Therapeutics Limited engages in the research and development of therapeutic drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological disorders in Australia. The company’s lead drug candidate is ATH434 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. It is also developing ATH434-201, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat multiple system atrophy early stage; ATH434-202 that is in Phase II clinical trial to treat multiple system atrophy advance; and PBT2 that has completed Phase 2a clinical trial to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The company was formerly known as Prana Biotechnology Limited and changed its name to Alterity Therapeutics Limited in April 2019. Alterity Therapeutics Limited was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

About Athira Pharma

Athira Pharma, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegradation. Its lead product candidate is Fosgonimeton (ATH-1017), a small molecule designed to modulate the neurotrophic hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) system and its receptor, MET, for a healthy nervous system that is in LIFT-AD Phase 2/3 and ACT-AD Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, as well as is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat Parkinson's disease dementia and Dementia with Lewy bodies. The company's product pipeline includes ATH-1020, an orally available brain-penetrant small molecule designed to enhance the HGF/MET system that is in Phase 1 clinical trials to treat neuropathic pain and neurodegenerative diseases; and ATH-1105, an oral small molecule drug candidate, which is a preclinical model for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In addition, it has a license agreement with Washington State University to offer for sale products covered by certain licensed patents, including dihexa, the chemical compound into which fosgonimeton metabolizes following administration; and collaboration and grant agreement with National Institutes of Health Grant to support ACT-AD Phase 2 clinical trial for fosgonimeton. The company was formerly known as M3 Biotechnology, Inc. and changed its name to Athira Pharma, Inc. in April 2019. Athira Pharma, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.