ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) versus HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) Critical Review

HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) and ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares HilleVax and ProKidney’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HilleVax	N/A	-56.18%	-43.75%
ProKidney	N/A	N/A	-8.09%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HilleVax and ProKidney’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HilleVax	N/A	N/A	-$123.57 million	($3.30)	-4.38
ProKidney	N/A	N/A	-$35.47 million	($0.57)	-4.32

HilleVax is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ProKidney, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

HilleVax has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ProKidney has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for HilleVax and ProKidney, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HilleVax	0	0	4	0	3.00
ProKidney	0	2	2	0	2.50

HilleVax presently has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 100.55%. ProKidney has a consensus price target of $7.25, indicating a potential upside of 194.72%. Given ProKidney’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ProKidney is more favorable than HilleVax.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.4% of HilleVax shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of ProKidney shares are owned by institutional investors. 71.1% of HilleVax shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.5% of ProKidney shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ProKidney beats HilleVax on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HilleVax

HilleVax, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel vaccines in the United States. It develops HIL-214, a virus-like particle-based vaccine candidate for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection. The company was formerly known as MokshaCo, Inc. and changed its name to HilleVax, Inc. in February 2021. HilleVax, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About ProKidney

ProKidney Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, provides transformative proprietary cell therapy platform for treating various chronic kidney diseases in the United States. The company's lead product is Renal Autologous Cell Therapy (REACT), an autologous homologous cell admixture, which has completed Phase I clinical trial for REACT in patients with congenital anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), as well as in Phase III and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe diabetic kidney disease. ProKidney Corp. founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.