Head to Head Survey: Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) & Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX)

Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX) and Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Oncocyte has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agenus has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Oncocyte and Agenus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oncocyte	1	0	2	0	2.33
Agenus	1	1	2	0	2.25

Oncocyte presently has a consensus target price of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 154.85%. Agenus has a consensus target price of $19.50, indicating a potential upside of 136.65%. Given Oncocyte’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Oncocyte is more favorable than Agenus.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Oncocyte and Agenus”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oncocyte	$4.05 million	33.29	-$50.22 million	($1.49)	-2.77
Agenus	$132.69 million	2.80	$120,000.00	$2.58	3.19

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.3% of Oncocyte shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.5% of Agenus shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Oncocyte shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Agenus shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Oncocyte and Agenus’ 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%
Agenus	69.33%	-47.68%	57.73%

Summary

Agenus beats Oncocyte on 8 of the 13 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 Agenus

Agenus Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops immuno-oncology products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody expression platform for the identification of fully human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; and display technologies. It develops QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant. The company also develops Balstilimab, an anti-PD-1 antagonist that has completed Phase II clinical trial to treat second line cervical cancer; AGEN1181, an antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and and melanoma; AGEN2373, a CD137 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1b clinical trial; AGEN1423, a CD73/TGFß TRAP antibody; AGEN1571, an ILT2 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1 clinical trial; and BMS-986442, a TIGIT bispecific antibodies. In addition, it develops INCAGN1876, a GITR agonist; INCAGN2390, a TIM-3 monospecific antibody; INCAGN2385, a LAG-3 monospecific antibody; MK-4830, a monospecific antibody targeting ILT4 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial; UGN-301, a zalifrelimab intravesical solution for the treatment of cancers of the urinary tract that is in a Phase 1 clinical trial; and AGEN1884, a first-generation anti-CTLA-4 monospecific antibody. The company operates under Agenus, MiNK, Prophage, Retrocyte Display, and Stimulon trademarks. It has collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Incyte Corporation, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. The company was formerly known as Antigenics Inc. and changed its name to Agenus Inc. in January 2011. Agenus Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.