Critical Contrast: Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) & Innate Pharma (NASDAQ:IPHA)

Innate Pharma (NASDAQ:IPHA) and Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Innate Pharma and Agenus, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Innate Pharma	0	0	1	1	3.50
Agenus	0	5	1	0	2.17

Innate Pharma currently has a consensus target price of $11.50, suggesting a potential upside of 557.14%. Agenus has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 182.33%. Given Innate Pharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Innate Pharma is more favorable than Agenus.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Innate Pharma and Agenus”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Innate Pharma	$66.71 million	2.20	-$8.19 million	N/A	N/A
Agenus	$156.31 million	0.53	-$245.76 million	($11.24)	-0.32

Innate Pharma has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Agenus.

Volatility & Risk

Innate Pharma has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agenus has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Innate Pharma shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.5% of Agenus shares are owned by institutional investors. 31.9% of Innate Pharma shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Agenus shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Innate Pharma and Agenus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innate Pharma	N/A	N/A	N/A
Agenus	-145.89%	N/A	-85.68%

Summary

Innate Pharma beats Agenus on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Innate Pharma

Innate Pharma S.A., a biotechnology company, develops immunotherapies for cancer patients in France and internationally. The company's products include Lacutamab (IPH4102), an anti-KIR3DL2 antibody, which is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, as well as in Phase II clinical trials to treat refractory sézary syndrome; Monalizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor that is in Phase III clinical trial to treat advanced solid tumors comprising colorectal and lung cancer, as well as head and neck cancer; IPH5201, a blocking antibody that is in Phase II clinical trials targeting the CD39 immunosuppressive pathway; IPH5301, an anti-CD73 antibody targeting the immunosuppressive adenosine pathway to promote antitumor immunity; IPH6401, an BCMA-targeting NK cell engager; and IPH6101, a NKp46-based NK cell engager that targets CD123 proprietary multi-specific antibody format; and IPH62, an B7-H3-targeting NK cell engager. Its products in preclinical trials are IPH43, an anti-MICA/B ADC and IPH45, an antibody drug conjugates (ADC); and IPH67, an undisclosed, multi-specific ANKET. The company has licensing and collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi, and Orega Biotech; and co-development and license agreement with MedImmune Limited. Innate Pharma S.A. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Marseille, France.

About Agenus

Agenus Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops immuno-oncology products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody expression platform for the identification of fully human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; and display technologies. It develops QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant. The company also develops Balstilimab, an anti-PD-1 antagonist that has completed Phase II clinical trial to treat second line cervical cancer; AGEN1181, an antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and and melanoma; AGEN2373, a CD137 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1b clinical trial; AGEN1423, a CD73/TGFß TRAP antibody; AGEN1571, an ILT2 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1 clinical trial; and BMS-986442, a TIGIT bispecific antibodies. In addition, it develops INCAGN1876, a GITR agonist; INCAGN2390, a TIM-3 monospecific antibody; INCAGN2385, a LAG-3 monospecific antibody; MK-4830, a monospecific antibody targeting ILT4 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial; UGN-301, a zalifrelimab intravesical solution for the treatment of cancers of the urinary tract that is in a Phase 1 clinical trial; and AGEN1884, a first-generation anti-CTLA-4 monospecific antibody. The company operates under Agenus, MiNK, Prophage, Retrocyte Display, and Stimulon trademarks. It has collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Incyte Corporation, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. The company was formerly known as Antigenics Inc. and changed its name to Agenus Inc. in January 2011. Agenus Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.