Reviewing Compass Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CMPX) and HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX)

Compass Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CMPX) and HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Compass Therapeutics and HilleVax, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Therapeutics	0	0	2	0	3.00
HilleVax	0	0	3	0	3.00

Compass Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 520.69%. HilleVax has a consensus target price of $30.67, suggesting a potential upside of 139.77%. Given Compass Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Compass Therapeutics is more favorable than HilleVax.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.4% of Compass Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of HilleVax shares are owned by institutional investors. 30.0% of Compass Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.3% of HilleVax shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Compass Therapeutics and HilleVax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Therapeutics	N/A	-26.07%	-24.49%
HilleVax	N/A	-48.17%	-38.05%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Compass Therapeutics and HilleVax’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Compass Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$42.49 million	($0.34)	-4.26
HilleVax	N/A	N/A	-$123.57 million	($3.04)	-4.21

Compass Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HilleVax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Compass Therapeutics has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HilleVax has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Compass Therapeutics beats HilleVax on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Compass Therapeutics

Compass Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing antibody-based therapeutics to treat various human diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidates include CTX-009, a bispecific antibody that blocks Delta-like ligand 4 a ligand of Notch-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor A signaling pathways, which are critical to angiogenesis and tumor vascularization; and CTX-471, an IgG4 monoclonal antibody that is an agonist of CD137, a key co-stimulatory receptor on immune cells. It also develops CTX-8371, a bispecific inhibitor that targets PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor antibodies. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About HilleVax

HilleVax, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel vaccines. The company develops HIL-214, a virus-like particle-based vaccine candidate for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus and related illness. The company was formerly known as MokshaCo, Inc. and changed its name to HilleVax, Inc. in February 2021. HilleVax, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.