Reviewing Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) and Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK)

Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK) and Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.5% of Anika Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.1% of Anika Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Xencor shares are owned by company 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.

Profitability

This table compares Anika Therapeutics and Xencor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Anika Therapeutics	-3.14%	0.20%	0.15%
Xencor	-155.59%	-28.66%	-20.38%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Anika Therapeutics and Xencor”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Anika Therapeutics	$120.65 million	2.31	-$10.88 million	($0.27)	-77.00
Xencor	$125.58 million	14.08	-$91.92 million	($2.17)	-10.96

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

Risk & Volatility

Anika Therapeutics has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xencor has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Anika Therapeutics and Xencor, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Anika Therapeutics	1	0	2	1	2.75
Xencor	1	2	5	1	2.67

Anika Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.01%. Xencor has a consensus target price of $31.86, suggesting a potential upside of 33.99%. Given Xencor’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Xencor is more favorable than Anika Therapeutics.

Summary

Anika Therapeutics beats Xencor on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Anika Therapeutics

Anika Therapeutics, Inc., a joint preservation company, creates and delivers advancements in early intervention orthopedic care in the areas of osteoarthritis (OA) pain management, regenerative solutions, sports medicine, and arthrosurface joint solutions in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company develops, manufactures, and commercializes products based on hyaluronic acid (HA) technology platform. Its OA pain management products includes Monovisc and Orthovisc, an injectable HA-based viscosupplement for the pain relief from osteoarthritis conditions; and Cingal, a single-injection OA pain management product to provide both short- and long-term pain relief. The company’s joint preservation and restoration product family comprises and orthopedic regenerative solutions, including Hyalofast and Tactoset; sports medicine solutions used to repair and reconstruct damaged ligaments and tendons; and preserving joint solutions, including partial joint replacement, joint resurfacing, and invasive and bone sparing implants, which are designed to treat upper and lower extremity orthopedic conditions. In addition, it offers non-orthopedic products comprising HA-based products for non-orthopedic applications including Hyvisc, a molecular weight injectable HA veterinary product; Hyalobarrier, an anti-adhesion barrier indicated for use after abdominal-pelvic surgeries; and Hyalomatrix used for the treatment of burns and ulcers, as well as products used for the treatment of ears, nose and throat disorders, and ophthalmic products. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of engineered monoclonal antibody and cytokine therapeutics to treat patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company provides Sotrovimab that targets the SARS-CoV-2 virus; Ultomiris for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome; and Monjuvi for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. It develops Plamotamab, a bispecific antibody, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Vudalimab, a bispecific antibody, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and other solid tumor types. The company is also developing XmAb306, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat solid tumors; XmAb104, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat patients with selected solid tumors; XmAb564 that is in Phase Ia clinical trial to treat autoimmune diseases; AMG 509, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat prostate cancer; XmAb819 for patients with renal cell carcinoma; XmAb541 for the treatment of ovarian cancer; and XmAb662 which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with solid tumors. In addition, the company develops VIR-3434, which is in Phase II clinical trial for patients with hepatitis B virus infection; and VIR-2482 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial to trat hepatitis B virus. The company develops AIMab7195 to reduce blood serum levels of IgE that mediates allergic responses and allergic disease; Obexelimab to treat autoimmune disease; and Xpro1595 to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease, and depression. It has a license agreement with Caris Life Sciences. Xencor, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.