Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) vs. Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) Head to Head Review

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) and Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Enanta Pharmaceuticals and Verrica Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enanta Pharmaceuticals	$65.32 million	5.77	-$81.89 million	($2.59)	-5.00
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	$35.58 million	2.53	-$17.89 million	($1.03)	-5.10

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.0% of Enanta Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.5% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of Enanta Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 52.9% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Enanta Pharmaceuticals and Verrica Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enanta Pharmaceuticals	1	0	7	0	2.75
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	1	1	2	0	2.25

Enanta Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $20.29, indicating a potential upside of 56.65%. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 176.19%. Given Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Verrica Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Enanta Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Enanta Pharmaceuticals and Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enanta Pharmaceuticals	-89.56%	-64.04%	-20.22%
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	-47.97%	-1,077.78%	-40.76%

Summary

Enanta Pharmaceuticals beats Verrica Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enanta Pharmaceuticals

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV. The company has a collaborative development and license agreement with Abbott Laboratories to develop, manufacture, and commercialize HCV NS3 and NS3/4A protease inhibitor compounds, including paritaprevir and glecaprevir. Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts. The company also develops VP-315, an oncolytic peptide-based injectable therapy, which is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of dermatology oncologic conditions which includes basal cell carcinoma; and VP-103, a cantharidin-based product candidate for the treatment of plantar warts and is in phase II clinical trial. In addition, it offers YCANTH for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum. The company has a collaboration and license agreement with Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of its product candidates for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum and common warts in Japan, including VP-102; and a license agreement with Lytix Biopharma AS to develop and commercialize VP-315 for dermatological oncology indications, such as non-metastatic melanoma and non-metastatic merkel cell carcinoma. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.