Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) & Avenue Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATXI) Head to Head Review

Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) and Avenue Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATXI) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Collegium Pharmaceutical and Avenue Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Collegium Pharmaceutical	0	3	3	1	2.71
Avenue Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Collegium Pharmaceutical presently has a consensus target price of $52.60, suggesting a potential upside of 91.61%. Given Collegium Pharmaceutical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Collegium Pharmaceutical is more favorable than Avenue Therapeutics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.3% of Avenue Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Collegium Pharmaceutical shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Avenue Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Collegium Pharmaceutical has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avenue Therapeutics has a beta of -0.2, suggesting that its stock price is 120% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Collegium Pharmaceutical and Avenue Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Collegium Pharmaceutical	$780.57 million	1.15	$62.87 million	$1.24	22.14
Avenue Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$10.38 million	($0.85)	-0.30

Collegium Pharmaceutical has higher revenue and earnings than Avenue Therapeutics. Avenue Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Collegium Pharmaceutical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Collegium Pharmaceutical and Avenue Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Collegium Pharmaceutical	5.93%	91.43%	15.57%
Avenue Therapeutics	N/A	-471.57%	-296.50%

Summary

Collegium Pharmaceutical beats Avenue Therapeutics on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Collegium Pharmaceutical

Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of medicines for pain management. Its portfolio includes Xtampza ER, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release, and oral formulation of oxycodone for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment; Nucynta ER and Nucynta IR, which are extended-release and immediate-release formulations of tapentadol, indicated for the management of acute, severe, and persistent pain; Belbuca, a buccal film that contains buprenorphine; and Symproic, an oral formulation of naldemedine for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in adult patients with chronic non-cancer pain. The company was formerly known as Collegium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. in October 2003. Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

About Avenue Therapeutics

Avenue Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of neurologic diseases. Its product candidates include AJ201, which is in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy; intravenous tramadol for the treatment of post-operative acute pain; and BAER-101 for the treatment of epilepsy and panic disorders. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida.