Reviewing Ocugen (NASDAQ:OCGN) and TRACON Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TCON)

TRACON Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TCON) and Ocugen (NASDAQ:OCGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.6% of TRACON Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.3% of Ocugen shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of TRACON Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Ocugen shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TRACON Pharmaceuticals and Ocugen’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TRACON Pharmaceuticals	$12.05 million	0.32	-$3.59 million	$0.67	2.16
Ocugen	$6.04 million	54.54	-$63.08 million	($0.25)	-5.12

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for TRACON Pharmaceuticals and Ocugen, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TRACON Pharmaceuticals	0	1	2	0	2.67
Ocugen	0	0	3	0	3.00

TRACON Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4,037.93%. Ocugen has a consensus target price of $4.67, suggesting a potential upside of 264.58%. Given TRACON Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe TRACON Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Ocugen.

Profitability

This table compares TRACON Pharmaceuticals and Ocugen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TRACON Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-114.48%	59.65%
Ocugen	N/A	-117.30%	-83.58%

Volatility & Risk

TRACON Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ocugen has a beta of 3.57, meaning that its stock price is 257% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

TRACON Pharmaceuticals beats Ocugen on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TRACON Pharmaceuticals

TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel targeted therapeutics for cancer in the United States. Its clinical stage products include envafolimab (KN035), a PD-L1 single-domain antibody for the treatment of refractory soft tissue sarcoma; and YH001, an investigational humanized cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 IgG1 monoclonal antibody that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of various cancer indications. The company's clinical stage products also include TRC102, a small molecule that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of mesothelioma, and in Phase I clinical trial to treat solid tumors, lung cancer, and glioblastoma; and TJ004309, a CD73 antibody that is in Phase I clinical development for the treatment of solid tumors. In addition, it is developing bispecific antibodies, which are in preclinical stage. It has collaboration and license agreements with 3D Medicines Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Alphamab Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. for the development of envafolimab; I-Mab Biopharma for the development of CD73 antibody TJ004309 and bispecific antibodies; and cooperative research and development agreement with National Cancer Institute. The company was formerly known as Lexington Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in March 2005. TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Ocugen

Ocugen, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel gene and cell therapies and vaccines that improve patients' health. The company's pipeline product includes OCU400, a novel gene therapy product candidate restoring retinal integrity and function across a range of genetically diverse inherited retinal diseases, currently under Phase 3 trials for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa and Phase 1/2 trials for the treatment of leber congenital amaurosis; OCU410, a gene therapy under phase 1/2 for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD); and OCU410ST, a gene therapy under phase 1/2 for the treatment of Stargardt disease. It is also involved in the development of OCU200, a novel fusion protein that is in preclinical development stage for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, and wet age-related macular degeneration; and NeoCart, an autologous chondrocyte-derived neocartilage, currently under Phase 3 studies indicated for the repair of knee cartilage injuries in adult. In addition, the company is developing OCU500, a COVID-19 vaccine; OCU510, a seasonal quadrivalent flu vaccine; and OCU520, a combination quadrivalent seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccine. It has collaboration agreements with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for early clinical studies for the OCU500 program; and a strategic partnership with CanSino Biologics Inc. for manufacturing its modifier gene therapy pipeline product candidates. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.