Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL – Get Free Report) and HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
86.4% of HilleVax shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Vericel shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 71.1% of HilleVax shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Vericel and HilleVax, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Vericel | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3.14 |
| HilleVax | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Vericel and HilleVax”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Vericel | $226.84 million | 12.28 | -$3.18 million | $0.06 | 941.00 |
| HilleVax | N/A | N/A | -$123.57 million | ($3.10) | -0.63 |
Vericel has higher revenue and earnings than HilleVax. HilleVax is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vericel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Vericel has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HilleVax has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Vericel and HilleVax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Vericel | 1.56% | 1.48% | 0.96% |
| HilleVax | N/A | -67.27% | -51.99% |
Summary
Vericel beats HilleVax on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Vericel
Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns. The company was formerly known as Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. Vericel Corporation was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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.
Receive News & Ratings for Vericel Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vericel and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
