Opthea (NASDAQ:OPT) vs. Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) Critical Review

Opthea (NASDAQ:OPT) and Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.0% of Opthea shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of Cellectis shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Opthea shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of Cellectis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Opthea and Cellectis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Opthea	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cellectis	-346.65%	-73.03%	-32.22%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Opthea and Cellectis, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Opthea	0	0	2	0	3.00
Cellectis	0	0	2	0	3.00

Opthea presently has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 308.16%. Cellectis has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 240.00%. Given Opthea’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Opthea is more favorable than Cellectis.

Volatility and Risk

Opthea has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cellectis has a beta of 3.12, meaning that its stock price is 212% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Opthea and Cellectis’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Opthea	$110,000.00	1,821.02	-$142.52 million	N/A	N/A
Cellectis	$16.50 million	8.42	-$106.14 million	($1.67)	-1.50

Cellectis has higher revenue and earnings than Opthea.

About Opthea

Opthea Limited, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapies primarily for eye disease in Australia. The company's development activities are based on the intellectual property portfolio covering Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF) VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and VEGF Receptor-3 for the treatment of diseases associated with blood and lymphatic vessel growth, as well as vascular leakage. Its lead product candidate is Sozinibercept (OPT 302), a soluble form of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 VEGFR-3, currently under Phase 3 clinical development as a novel therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. The company was formerly known as Circadian Technologies Limited and changed its name to Opthea Limited in December 2015. Opthea Limited was incorporated in 1984 and is based in South Yarra, Australia.

About Cellectis

Cellectis S.A., a clinical stage biotechnological company, develops immuno-oncology products based on gene-edited T-cells that express chimeric antigen receptors to target and eradicate cancer cells. The company is developing UCART19, an allogeneic T-cell product candidate for the treatment of CD19-expressing hematologic malignancies, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia; ALLO-501 and ALLO-501A to treat relapsed or refractory for non-hodgkin lymphoma (NHL); and ALLO-715 for the treatment of multiple myeloma. It also develops UCART22 to treat B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; UCARTCS1 and ALLO-605 for the treatment of multiple myeloma; ALLO-316 for renal cell carcinoma; UCART123 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia; and UCART 20×22 for relapsed or refractory B-Cell NHL. The company has strategic alliances with Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. and Les Laboratoires Servier; research collaboration and exclusive license agreement with Iovance Biotherapeutics; and collaboration and license agreement with Cytovia, as well as a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to develop novel cell and gene therapy candidate products. Cellectis S.A. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Paris, France.