Financial Comparison: Senestech (NASDAQ:SNES) & Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS)

Senestech (NASDAQ:SNES) and Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

5.2% of Senestech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Cerus shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Senestech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Cerus shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Senestech and Cerus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Senestech	-304.22%	-67.60%	-49.21%
Cerus	-4.41%	-15.18%	-4.38%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Senestech and Cerus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Senestech	1	1	0	1	2.33
Cerus	1	1	2	0	2.25

Cerus has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 33.78%. Given Cerus’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cerus is more favorable than Senestech.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Senestech and Cerus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Senestech	$2.23 million	3.54	-$6.38 million	($1.89)	-0.79
Cerus	$206.13 million	2.91	-$15.63 million	($0.05)	-59.80

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

Risk & Volatility

Senestech has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cerus has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cerus beats Senestech on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Senestech

SenesTech, Inc. develops a technology for managing animal pest populations through fertility control. It offers ContraPest, a liquid bait that limits reproduction of male and female rats. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion. The company offers INTERCEPT Blood Systems for platelets and plasma, which is designed to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in platelets and plasma donated for transfusion; INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in red blood cells donated for transfusion; and INTERCEPT Blood System for Cryoprecipitation that uses its plasma system to produce pathogen reduced cryoprecipitated fibrinogen complex for the treatment and control of bleeding, including massive hemorrhage associated with fibrinogen deficiency, as well as pathogen reduced plasma, cryoprecipitate reduced. It sells platelet and plasma systems through its direct sales force and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, Latin America, and internationally. Cerus Corporation was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Concord, California.