Head-To-Head Review: Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO) & CEL-SCI (NYSE:CVM)

Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO) and CEL-SCI (NYSE:CVM) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Aptose Biosciences and CEL-SCI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aptose Biosciences	N/A	-5,683.22%	-279.77%
CEL-SCI	N/A	-239.31%	-102.69%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Aptose Biosciences and CEL-SCI, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aptose Biosciences	0	0	4	0	3.00
CEL-SCI	0	0	0	0	N/A

Aptose Biosciences presently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2,308.35%. Given Aptose Biosciences’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Aptose Biosciences is more favorable than CEL-SCI.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aptose Biosciences and CEL-SCI”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aptose Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$51.21 million	($6.20)	-0.06
CEL-SCI	N/A	N/A	-$32.19 million	($0.63)	-2.03

CEL-SCI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aptose Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Aptose Biosciences has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CEL-SCI has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

26.6% of Aptose Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.1% of CEL-SCI shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of Aptose Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.2% of CEL-SCI shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Aptose Biosciences

Aptose Biosciences Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops personalized therapies addressing unmet medical needs in oncology in Canada. Its lead clinical program is APTO-253, which is a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. The company has an agreement with CrystalGenomics, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize CG026806, a non-covalent small molecule therapeutic agent, which is in preclinical stage for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/mantle cell lymphoma. The company was formerly known as Lorus Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Aptose Biosciences Inc. in August 2014. Aptose Biosciences Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.

About CEL-SCI

CEL-SCI Corporation, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the research and development of immune system therapy for the treatment of cancer and other diseases in the United States. The company's lead immunotherapy is Multikine, which has completed Phase 3 clinical trials for the potential treatment of certain head and neck cancers. It is also developing products based on its proprietary technology Ligand Epitope Antigen Presentation System (LEAPS) technology, a patented T-cell modulation process that stimulates the human immune system to fight bacterial, viral, parasitic infections, autoimmune conditions, allergies, transplantation rejections, and cancer. In addition, the company's product pipeline includes CEL-2000; CEL-4000; and CEL-5000, which are LEAPS-based product candidates in preclinical trials for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis disease. CEL-SCI Corporation was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia.