Analyzing Phio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHIO) & Dianthus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNTH)

Dianthus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNTH) and Phio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHIO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Dianthus Therapeutics and Phio Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dianthus Therapeutics	0	0	9	2	3.18
Phio Pharmaceuticals	0	0	1	0	3.00

Dianthus Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $45.13, indicating a potential upside of 62.85%. Phio Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,137.11%. Given Phio Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Phio Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Dianthus Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Dianthus Therapeutics and Phio Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dianthus Therapeutics	-1,376.42%	-21.03%	-20.18%
Phio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-142.68%	-111.75%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dianthus Therapeutics and Phio Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dianthus Therapeutics	$2.83 million	287.58	-$43.56 million	($5.54)	-5.00
Phio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$10.83 million	($29.25)	-0.10

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.5% of Dianthus Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.3% of Phio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 16.6% of Dianthus Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Phio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Dianthus Therapeutics has a beta of 1.85, indicating that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Phio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Dianthus Therapeutics beats Phio Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dianthus Therapeutics

Dianthus Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops complement therapeutics for patients with severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It is developing DNTH103, a monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis, multifocal motor neuropathy, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Dianthus Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Phio Pharmaceuticals

Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. engages in the development of immuno-oncology therapeutics in the United States. The company is developing PH-762, an INTASYL compound in Phase 1b dose-escalating clinical trials to reduce the expression of cell death protein 1 (PD-1), a protein that inhibits T cells’ ability to kill cancer cells; and PH-762 treated double positive tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials to treat advanced melanoma and other advanced solid tumors. It is also developing PH-894, an INTASYL compound in IND enabling studies to silence BRD4, a protein that controls gene expression in both T cells and tumor cells, effecting the immune system and the tumor. The company was formerly known as RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. in November 2018. Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Marlborough, Massachusetts.