Financial Analysis: FibroGen (NASDAQ:FGEN) and Lisata Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LSTA)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for FibroGen and Lisata Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FibroGen	0	1	0	0	2.00
Lisata Therapeutics	0	0	1	0	3.00

Lisata Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 428.17%. Given Lisata Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lisata Therapeutics is more favorable than FibroGen.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.7% of FibroGen shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.9% of Lisata Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of FibroGen shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Lisata Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares FibroGen and Lisata Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FibroGen	-96.84%	N/A	-40.37%
Lisata Therapeutics	N/A	-46.48%	-41.40%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares FibroGen and Lisata Therapeutics’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FibroGen	$173.82 million	0.21	-$284.23 million	($2.45)	-0.15
Lisata Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$20.84 million	($2.46)	-1.15

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

Volatility & Risk

FibroGen has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lisata Therapeutics has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lisata Therapeutics beats FibroGen on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FibroGen

FibroGen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes therapeutics to treat serious unmet medical needs. Its lead product candidates are Pamrevlumab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting connective tissue growth factor that is in Phase III clinical development for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer; and Roxadustat, an oral small molecule inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase activity, which has completed Phase III clinical development for the treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease in China, Europe, Japan, and other countries, as well as in Phase III clinical development for anemia related with myelodysplastic syndromes. The company has collaboration agreements with Astellas Pharma Inc. and AstraZeneca AB. FibroGen, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Lisata Therapeutics

Lisata Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of solid tumors and other diseases. Its product candidates include LSTA1, which is in Phase 2a and 2b clinical studies for the treatment of solid tumor, including metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC), in combination with a range of anti-cancer regimens; XOWNA that is in Phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of coronary microvascular dysfunction; and CD34+ cell therapy for the treatment of chronic kidney disease. Lisata Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.