Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) and Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) Head-To-Head Contrast

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) and Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Precision BioSciences and Passage Bio, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Precision BioSciences	0	0	2	0	3.00
Passage Bio	0	0	3	0	3.00

Precision BioSciences currently has a consensus target price of $39.50, indicating a potential upside of 323.37%. Passage Bio has a consensus target price of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 889.01%. Given Passage Bio’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Passage Bio is more favorable than Precision BioSciences.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Precision BioSciences and Passage Bio’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Precision BioSciences	$48.73 million	1.32	-$61.32 million	($7.47)	-1.25
Passage Bio	N/A	N/A	-$102.06 million	($1.53)	-0.60

Precision BioSciences has higher revenue and earnings than Passage Bio. Precision BioSciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Passage Bio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

38.0% of Precision BioSciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.5% of Passage Bio shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Precision BioSciences shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Passage Bio shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Precision BioSciences and Passage Bio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Precision BioSciences	-48.10%	-131.69%	-22.73%
Passage Bio	N/A	-68.53%	-51.64%

Volatility and Risk

Precision BioSciences has a beta of 1.74, meaning that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Passage Bio has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Passage Bio beats Precision BioSciences on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences, Inc., an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA. In addition, it develops PBGENE-NVS for sickle cell disease/beta thalassemia for insertion; PBGENE-DMD (excision) for duchenne muscular dystrophy; PBGENE-LL2 (insertion), a liver directed target; PBGENE-LL3, a central nervous system directed target; and iECURE-OTC (insertion) for ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. The company has license and collaboration agreement with Caribou Biosciences, Inc.; license agreement with TG Cell Therapy, Inc. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize azer-cel for autoimmune diseases and other indications outside of cancer; development and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for the research and development of potential in vivo therapies for genetic disorders; Cellectis S.A.; iECURE, Inc. to develop ARCUS-based gene-insertion therapies; Duke University; and Novartis Pharma AG to discover and develop in vivo gene editing products. Precision BioSciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

About Passage Bio

Passage Bio, Inc., a genetic medicines company, develops gene therapies for central nervous system diseases. It develops PBGM01, a functional GLB1 gene encoding ß-galactosidase for infantile GM1; PBFT02, a functional granulin (GRN) and gene encoding progranulin (PGRN) for the treatment of FTD caused by progranulin deficiency; and PBKR03, a functional GALC gene encoding the hydrolytic enzyme galactosylceramidase for infantile Krabbe disease. The company develops PBML04 for the treatment of metachromatic leukodystrophy; PBAL05 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and other program for huntington's disease. It has a strategic research collaboration with the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania's Gene Therapy Program; and collaboration agreement, and a development services and clinical supply agreement with Catalent Maryland, Inc. Passage Bio, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.