Reviewing Virpax Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRPX) and UroGen Pharma (NASDAQ:URGN)

UroGen Pharma (NASDAQ:URGN) and Virpax Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRPX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

UroGen Pharma has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Virpax Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.3% of UroGen Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.2% of Virpax Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of UroGen Pharma shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of Virpax Pharmaceuticals shares are held by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for UroGen Pharma and Virpax Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UroGen Pharma	0	0	4	1	3.20
Virpax Pharmaceuticals	0	1	0	0	2.00

UroGen Pharma presently has a consensus price target of $48.38, indicating a potential upside of 291.70%. Virpax Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 383.79%. Given Virpax Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Virpax Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than UroGen Pharma.

Profitability

This table compares UroGen Pharma and Virpax Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UroGen Pharma	-129.11%	N/A	-47.94%
Virpax Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-1,554.34%	-242.73%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares UroGen Pharma and Virpax Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UroGen Pharma	$82.71 million	3.50	-$102.24 million	($3.15)	-3.92
Virpax Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$15.19 million	N/A	N/A

Virpax Pharmaceuticals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than UroGen Pharma.

Summary

UroGen Pharma beats Virpax Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UroGen Pharma

UroGen Pharma Ltd., a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of solutions for urothelial and specialty cancers. It offers RTGel, a novel proprietary polymeric biocompatible, reverse thermal gelation hydrogel technology to improve therapeutic profiles of existing drugs; and Jelmyto for pyelocalyceal solution. The company's lead product candidate is UGN-102 for the treatment of several forms of non-muscle invasive urothelial cancer that include low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer and low-grade intermediate risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). It is also developing UGN-301 for the treatment of high-grade NMIBC. The company has license agreement with Agenus Inc. to develop, make, use, sell, import, and commercialize products of Agenus for the treatment of cancers of the urinary tract via intravesical delivery; strategic research collaboration agreement with MD Anderson focusing on the sequential use of UGN-201 and UGN-301 for the treatment of NMIBC; and licensing and supply agreement with medac Gesellschaft für klinische Spezialpräparate m.b.H. to develop UGN-103 in low-grade intermediate risk NMIBC and UGN-104 in low-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma. UroGen Pharma Ltd. was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

About Virpax Pharmaceuticals

Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a preclinical-stage pharmaceutical company, develops various drug-delivery systems and drug-releasing technologies focused on advancing non-opioid and non-addictive pain management treatments and treatments for central nervous system disorders. Its preclinical stage product candidates include Epoladerm, a topical spray film delivery technology for osteoarthritis pain; Probudur, an injectable local anesthetic liposomal gel technology for postoperative pain management; and Envelta, a nanotechnology-based intranasal spray drug product candidate that enables the delivery of a metabolically labile peptide drug into the brain. The company's preclinical stage product candidates also comprise AnQlar, an anti-viral barrier to prevent or reduce the risk or the intensity of viral infections in humans, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2; and NobrXiol, an investigational formulation to be delivered via the nasal route to enhance cannabidiol transport to the brain. Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.