Analyzing Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID) and Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB)

Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB) and Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.7% of Nuvation Bio shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of Ovid Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 30.1% of Nuvation Bio shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Ovid Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Nuvation Bio has a beta of 1.52, meaning that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ovid Therapeutics has a beta of 0.16, meaning that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Nuvation Bio and Ovid Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nuvation Bio	-102.06%	-44.10%	-23.80%
Ovid Therapeutics	-240.11%	-22.51%	-18.67%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nuvation Bio and Ovid Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nuvation Bio	$62.90 million	30.70	-$204.63 million	($0.43)	-12.90
Ovid Therapeutics	$7.25 million	58.44	-$17.41 million	($0.29)	-7.83

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Nuvation Bio and Ovid Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nuvation Bio	2	1	8	0	2.55
Ovid Therapeutics	1	0	7	1	2.89

Nuvation Bio currently has a consensus target price of $12.50, indicating a potential upside of 125.43%. Ovid Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $5.13, indicating a potential upside of 125.77%. Given Ovid Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ovid Therapeutics is more favorable than Nuvation Bio.

Summary

Ovid Therapeutics beats Nuvation Bio on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nuvation Bio

Nuvation Bio Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutic candidates for oncology. The company's lead product candidate is NUV-868, a BD2 selective oral small molecule BET inhibitor that epigenetically regulates proteins that control tumor growth and differentiation, including oncogenes comprising c-myc; NUV-1156, an AR binder Xtandi that address advanced stage prostate cancers with the potential to move into earlier lines typically treated with surgical prostatectomy; and drug-drug conjugate (DDC) platform which leverages a novel therapeutic approach within the drug-conjugate class of anti-cancer therapies to deliver anti-cancer therapeutics to cancer cells, as well as NUV-1176, a PARP inhibitor to address ER+ breast and ovarian cancer. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Ovid Therapeutics

Ovid Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of impactful medicines for patients and families with epilepsies and seizure-related neurological disorders in the United States. The company is developing soticlestat, a novel cholesterol 24 hydroxylase inhibitor, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the potential treatment of patients with resistant epilepsies; OV329, a GABA aminotransferase inhibitor which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex and infantile spasms; and OV350, a small molecule direct activator of the KCC2 transporter, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treating epilepsies. It also develops OV815, that focuses on the mutations associated with KIF1A-associated neurological disorder (KAND); OV888 (GV101), a highly selective rock2 inhibitor which is in Phase 1 double-blind multiple-ascending dose trial; OV825, has advanced to potential candidate lead identification for the rare neurodevelopmental condition HNRNPH2 (Bain Syndrome); and OV882, a short hairpin RNA gene therapy for the treatment of Angelman syndrome. The company has license and collaboration agreements with Healx, AstraZeneca AB, H. Lundbeck A/S, Northwestern University, and Graviton, as well as Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.