Head-To-Head Comparison: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPIX) vs. Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Enanta Pharmaceuticals and Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enanta Pharmaceuticals	1	0	2	1	2.75
Cumberland Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00

Enanta Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $19.67, indicating a potential upside of 104.01%. Given Enanta Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Enanta Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Cumberland Pharmaceuticals.

Volatility & Risk

Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.0% of Enanta Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.5% of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 13.6% of Enanta Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 43.3% of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enanta Pharmaceuticals	$79.20 million	2.58	-$133.82 million	($5.45)	-1.77
Cumberland Pharmaceuticals	$39.55 million	0.39	-$6.28 million	($0.77)	-1.44

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

Profitability

This table compares Enanta Pharmaceuticals and Cumberland Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enanta Pharmaceuticals	-160.27%	-63.75%	-27.09%
Cumberland Pharmaceuticals	-29.54%	-9.50%	-3.19%

Summary

Enanta Pharmaceuticals beats Cumberland Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enanta Pharmaceuticals

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV. The company has a collaborative development and license agreement with Abbott Laboratories to develop, manufacture, and commercialize HCV NS3 and NS3/4A protease inhibitor compounds, including paritaprevir and glecaprevir. Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Cumberland Pharmaceuticals

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of prescription products for hospital acute care, gastroenterology, and oncology in the United States and internationally. The company offers Acetadote, an injection for the treatment of acetaminophen poisoning; Caldolor, an injection for the treatment of pain and fever; Kristalose, a prescription laxative oral solution for the treatment of constipation; Omeclamox-Pak for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection and duodenal ulcer disease; Vaprisol, an injection for treating euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia; Sancuso, an injection for the treatment of chemotherapy treatment; and Vibativ, an injection for the treatment of certain serious bacterial infections, including hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, as well as complicated skin and skin structure infections. It develops RediTrex injection for the treatment of active rheumatoid, juvenile idiopathic, and severe psoriatic arthritis, as well as disabling psoriasis. In addition, the company is developing ifetroban, a product candidate that is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, systemic sclerosis, and duchenne muscular dystrophy; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome and portal hypertension. Further, it develops a clinical program for the use of ifetroban to treat progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.