Reviewing Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) & Vistagen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VTGN)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Vistagen Therapeutics and Minerva Neurosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vistagen Therapeutics	0	0	1	1	3.50
Minerva Neurosciences	0	1	0	0	2.00

Vistagen Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 481.40%. Minerva Neurosciences has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 123.21%. Given Vistagen Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Vistagen Therapeutics is more favorable than Minerva Neurosciences.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.4% of Vistagen Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.6% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Vistagen Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vistagen Therapeutics and Minerva Neurosciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vistagen Therapeutics	$1.06 million	67.76	-$29.36 million	($1.24)	-2.08
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	N/A	-$30.00 million	($0.44)	-5.09

Vistagen Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Minerva Neurosciences. Minerva Neurosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vistagen Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Vistagen Therapeutics has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerva Neurosciences has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vistagen Therapeutics and Minerva Neurosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vistagen Therapeutics	-4,521.71%	-36.35%	-33.62%
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	N/A	-6.74%

Summary

Vistagen Therapeutics beats Minerva Neurosciences on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vistagen Therapeutics

Vistagen Therapeutics, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, primarily focus to transform the treatment landscape for individuals living with anxiety, depression, and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company's pipeline includes six clinical stage product candidates, including five investigational agents belonging to drugs known as pherines. Its product pipeline comprises PH94B, a fasedienol nasal spray, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of social anxiety disorder; and PH10, a Ituvone nasal spray which is in Phase II development for the treatment of major depressive disorder. In addition, the company is also developing PH15, an early-stage investigational synthetic neuroactive steroid for the treatment of cognition improvement; PH80, an odorless and tasteless synthetic investigational pherine for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes and migraine; PH284, an early-stage investigational synthetic neuroactive steroid for the treatment of wasting syndrome Cachexia; and AV-101, an oral nmdr glycine site antagonist for depression and neurological disorders. Further, it has a license and collaboration agreement with EverInsight Therapeutics Inc. to develop and commercialize to address ophthalmologic and CNS disorders. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Minerva Neurosciences

Minerva Neurosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is roluperidone (MIN-101) for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, currently submitted an New Drug Application (NDA); and MIN-301, a soluble recombinant form of the neuregulin-1b1 protein for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company has a license agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to develop, sell, and import roluperidone globally excluding Asia. Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Burlington, Massachusetts.