Head-To-Head Survey: Evogene (NASDAQ:EVGN) and Geron (NASDAQ:GERN)

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) and Evogene (NASDAQ:EVGN) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Geron and Evogene, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Geron	1	2	3	0	2.33
Evogene	1	0	0	0	1.00

Geron currently has a consensus target price of $3.75, indicating a potential upside of 284.93%. Given Geron’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Geron is more favorable than Evogene.

Profitability

This table compares Geron and Evogene’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Geron	-23.04%	-16.29%	-6.82%
Evogene	-694.18%	-156.53%	-86.80%

Risk & Volatility

Geron has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Evogene has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.7% of Geron shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.4% of Evogene shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Geron shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Evogene shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Geron and Evogene”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Geron	$183.88 million	3.41	-$83.50 million	($0.08)	-12.18
Evogene	$3.85 million	0.84	-$8.48 million	($0.91)	-0.41

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

Summary

Geron beats Evogene on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Geron

Geron Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for blood disorders and cancers. Its lead product, Rytelo (imetelstat), is a telomerase inhibitor approved in the United States to treat certain adults with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who have transfusion-dependent anemia. Geron continues to develop imetelstat for potential use in other hematologic conditions. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.

About Evogene

Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ: EVGN) is an Israel-based computational biology company that develops technologies and products designed to improve human health, agriculture and sustainability. The company uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and biological data analysis through its Computational Predictive Biology platform to identify and develop solutions based on biological mechanisms. Evogene has built a portfolio of subsidiaries and business units focused on areas including agricultural biologicals, crop protection, microbiome-based therapeutics and medical cannabis.