Contrasting Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) & Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA)

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) and Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atara Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Atara Biotherapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical	1	10	9	1	2.48
Atara Biotherapeutics	1	1	1	1	2.50

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical presently has a consensus target price of $34.58, suggesting a potential upside of 123.38%. Atara Biotherapeutics has a consensus target price of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 0.21%. Given Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical is more favorable than Atara Biotherapeutics.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Atara Biotherapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical	$717.00 million	2.13	-$575.00 million	($5.84)	-2.65
Atara Biotherapeutics	$120.77 million	0.79	$32.69 million	($1.18)	-8.03

Atara Biotherapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical. Atara Biotherapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Atara Biotherapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical	-81.79%	N/A	-44.40%
Atara Biotherapeutics	-269.42%	N/A	-73.01%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.7% of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.9% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 41.2% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical beats Atara Biotherapeutics on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the identification, acquisition, development, and commercialization of novel products for the treatment of rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases in North America, Latin America, Japan, Europe, and internationally. Its biologic products include Crysvita (burosumab), an antibody targeting fibroblast growth factor 23 for the treatment of X-linked hypophosphatemia, as well as tumor-induced osteomalacia; Mepsevii, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of children and adults with Mucopolysaccharidosis VII; Dojolvi for treating long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders; and Evkeeza (evinacumab) for the treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. The company's products candidatures include DTX401, an adeno-associated virus 8 (AAV8) gene therapy clinical candidate for the treatment of patients with glycogen storage disease type Ia; DTX301, an AAV8 gene therapy for the treatment of patients with ornithine transcarbamylase; UX143, a human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta; GTX-102, an antisense oligonucleotide for the treatment of Angelman syndrome; UX111, an AAV9 gene therapy product candidate for the treatment of patients with Sanfilippo syndrome type A, or MPS IIIA, a rare lysosomal storage disease; UX701, for the treatment of Wilson disease; and UX053 for the treatment of glycogen storage disease type III. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. has collaboration and license agreement with Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd.; Saint Louis University; Baylor Research Institute; REGENXBIO Inc.; Bayer Healthcare LLC; GeneTx; Mereo; University of Pennsylvania; Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc.; Solid Biosciences Inc.; Regeneron; Abeona; and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Novato, California.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. engages in the development of transformative therapies for patients with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its lead product includes Tab-cel (tabelecleucel), a T-cell immunotherapy program that is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epstein-barr virus (EBV) driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, as well as nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Its CAR T immunotherapy pipeline products include ATA3219, currently in Phase 1 trials, as well as ATA3431, under preclinical trials for the treatment of B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases; and ATA188 that is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat multiple sclerosis. The company has research collaboration agreements with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Council of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.