Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL – Get Free Report) and ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Avadel Pharmaceuticals and ProQR Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Avadel Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3.00 |
| ProQR Therapeutics | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3.17 |
Avadel Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $19.88, indicating a potential upside of 130.84%. ProQR Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $8.83, indicating a potential upside of 265.01%. Given ProQR Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ProQR Therapeutics is more favorable than Avadel Pharmaceuticals.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Avadel Pharmaceuticals | -52.53% | -93.34% | -44.77% |
| ProQR Therapeutics | -134.31% | -71.58% | -19.70% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
69.2% of Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.7% of ProQR Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of ProQR Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Avadel Pharmaceuticals and ProQR Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Avadel Pharmaceuticals | $27.96 million | 29.67 | -$160.28 million | ($0.79) | -10.90 |
| ProQR Therapeutics | $7.05 million | 28.04 | -$30.43 million | ($0.32) | -7.56 |
ProQR Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Avadel Pharmaceuticals. Avadel Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ProQR Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Avadel Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ProQR Therapeutics has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
ProQR Therapeutics beats Avadel Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Avadel Pharmaceuticals
Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc operates as a biopharmaceutical company in the United States. Its lead product candidate is LUMRYZ, a formulation of sodium oxybate, which is in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy. The company was formerly known as Flamel Technologies SA and changed its name to Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc in January 2017. Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
About ProQR Therapeutics
ProQR Therapeutics N.V., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic medicines. The company's products pipeline includes AX-0810 for cholestatic diseases targeting Na-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP); and AX-1412 for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) targeting Beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase 1 (B4GALT1). It also develops various other early-stage research programs, including AX-1005 for undisclosed targets in CVDs; AX-2402, which focuses on Rett syndrome; AX-2911 for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH); AX-0601 for obesity and Type 2 diabetes; and AX-9115 for rare metabolic condition, as well as various other targets. In addition, the company develops Axiomer RNA base-editing platform technology. It has a license agreement with Radboud University Medical Center; Inserm Transfert SA; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Vico Therapeutics B.V.; University of Rochester; and Leiden University Medical Center, as well as license and research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company for the discovery, development, and commercialization of potential new medicines for genetic disorders in the liver and nervous system. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands.
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