Reviewing Praxis Precision Medicines (NASDAQ:PRAX) and Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RVNC)

Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RVNC) and Praxis Precision Medicines (NASDAQ:PRAX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.7% of Revance Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of Praxis Precision Medicines shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Revance Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Praxis Precision Medicines shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Revance Therapeutics and Praxis Precision Medicines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Revance Therapeutics	0	8	2	0	2.20
Praxis Precision Medicines	0	1	8	0	2.89

Revance Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $10.88, indicating a potential upside of 65.27%. Praxis Precision Medicines has a consensus target price of $143.44, indicating a potential upside of 165.54%. Given Praxis Precision Medicines’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Praxis Precision Medicines is more favorable than Revance Therapeutics.

Volatility and Risk

Revance Therapeutics has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Praxis Precision Medicines has a beta of 2.72, suggesting that its stock price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Revance Therapeutics and Praxis Precision Medicines’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Revance Therapeutics	$251.18 million	2.74	-$323.99 million	($3.63)	-1.81
Praxis Precision Medicines	$1.77 million	521.84	-$123.28 million	($15.86)	-3.41

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

Profitability

This table compares Revance Therapeutics and Praxis Precision Medicines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Revance Therapeutics	-117.88%	N/A	-41.05%
Praxis Precision Medicines	-6,987.01%	-61.47%	-55.85%

Summary

Revance Therapeutics beats Praxis Precision Medicines on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Revance Therapeutics

Revance Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of neuromodulators for various aesthetic and therapeutic indications in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead drug candidate is DAXXIFY (DaxibotulinumtoxinA-lanm) for injection for the treatment of glabellar lines and cervical dystonia; has completed phase II clinical trials to treat upper facial lines, moderate or severe dynamic forehead lines, and moderate or severe lateral canthal lines; and has completed Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of adult upper limb spasticity and plantar fasciitis. It is also developing OnabotulinumtoxinA, a biosimilar to BOTOX that is in preclinical stage. The company also offers Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA) dermal filler for the correction of moderate to severe dynamic facial wrinkles; and RHA Redensity, a dermal filler for the treatment of moderate to severe dynamic perioral rhytids. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Viatris Inc. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize onabotulinumtoxinA. The company was formerly known as Essentia Biosystems, Inc. and changed its name to Revance Therapeutics, Inc. in April 2005. Revance Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Praxis Precision Medicines

Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapies for central nervous system disorders characterized by neuronal excitation-inhibition imbalance. It is developing ulixacaltamide, a small molecule inhibitor of T-type calcium channels that is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of essential tremor; PRAX-562 for the treatment of pediatric patients with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE); and PRAX-628 to treat focal epilepsy. The company also develops PRAX-222 for the treatment of pediatric patients with early-onset SCN2A-DEE; PRAX-020 to treat KCNT1 related epilepsies; PRAX-080 for the treatment of PCDH19; and PRAX-090 and PRAX-100 for SYNGAP1 and SCN2A-LoF. It has a license agreement with RogCon Inc.; a research collaboration and license agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; a strategic collaboration and license agreement with UCB Biopharma SRL; and collaboration with The Florey Institute to develop three novel ASOs. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.