Contrasting Phio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHIO) and Mannatech (NASDAQ:MTEX)

Mannatech (NASDAQ:MTEX) and Phio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHIO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Mannatech and Phio Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mannatech	1	0	0	0	1.00
Phio Pharmaceuticals	1	0	1	0	2.00

Phio Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,272.55%. Given Phio Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Phio Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Mannatech.

Risk and Volatility

Mannatech has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Phio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

13.0% of Mannatech shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.3% of Phio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 41.5% of Mannatech shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Phio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Mannatech and Phio Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mannatech	-11.97%	-2,383.34%	-40.24%
Phio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-77.34%	-70.87%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mannatech and Phio Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mannatech	$106.39 million	0.09	-$15.21 million	($6.71)	-0.70
Phio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$8.70 million	($1.38)	-0.74

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

Summary

Phio Pharmaceuticals beats Mannatech on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mannatech

Mannatech, Incorporated operates as a health and wellness company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company develops, markets, and sells nutritional supplements; topical and skin care, and anti-aging products; and weight-management and fitness products. It primarily sells its products directly, as well as through e-commerce and network marketing channels. Mannatech, Incorporated was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Flower Mound, Texas.

About Phio Pharmaceuticals

Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. engages in the development of immuno-oncology therapeutics in the United States. The company is developing PH-762, an INTASYL compound in Phase 1b dose-escalating clinical trials to reduce the expression of cell death protein 1 (PD-1), a protein that inhibits T cells’ ability to kill cancer cells; and PH-762 treated double positive tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials to treat advanced melanoma and other advanced solid tumors. It is also developing PH-894, an INTASYL compound in IND enabling studies to silence BRD4, a protein that controls gene expression in both T cells and tumor cells, effecting the immune system and the tumor. The company was formerly known as RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. in November 2018. Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Marlborough, Massachusetts.