Head-To-Head Contrast: Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) & Atrion (NASDAQ:ATRI)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Atrion’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Inovio Pharmaceuticals	$830,000.00	286.07	-$135.12 million	($7.56)	-1.34
Atrion	$169.33 million	4.41	$19.41 million	$11.03	38.46

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

Profitability

This table compares Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Atrion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Inovio Pharmaceuticals	-16,238.91%	-79.86%	-57.71%
Atrion	11.46%	8.07%	7.37%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Atrion, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Inovio Pharmaceuticals	0	1	2	0	2.67
Atrion	0	0	0	0	N/A

Inovio Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $96.00, suggesting a potential upside of 844.88%. Given Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Inovio Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Atrion.

Risk and Volatility

Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atrion has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

26.8% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.2% of Atrion shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Atrion shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Atrion beats Inovio Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of DNA medicines to treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines platform uses precisely designed SynCon that identify and optimize the DNA sequence of the target antigen, as well as CELLECTRA smart devices technology that facilitates delivery of the DNA plasmids. Its products in pipeline include VGX-3100 for the treatment of HPV-related cervical high-grade dysplasia; INO-3107 for HPV-related recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and is under Phase 1/2 trial; INO-3112 for the treatment of HPV-related Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and is under Phase 2 trial; INO-5401 for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme and is under Phase 2 trial; INO-4201 for Ebola Virus Disease and is under Phase 1b trial; INO-4800 for COVID-19 and is under Phase 3 trial; and INO-6160 for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus and is under Phase 1 trial. Its partners and collaborators include Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co, ApolloBio Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The U.S. Department of Defense, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, International Vaccine Institute, Kaneka Eurogentec, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Plumbline Life Sciences, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Richter-Helm BioLogics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, the University of Pennsylvania, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The Wistar Institute. The company was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

About Atrion

Atrion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells products for fluid delivery, cardiovascular, and ophthalmic applications in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company's fluid delivery products include valves that fill, hold, and release controlled amounts of fluids or gasses for use in various intubation, intravenous, catheter, and other applications in the anesthesia and oncology fields, as well as promote infection control in hospital and home healthcare environments. Its cardiovascular products comprise Myocardial Protection System that delivers fluids and medications, and mixes critical drugs, as well as controls temperature, pressure, and other variables; cardiac surgery vacuum relief valves; silicone vessel loops for retracting and occluding vessels; and inflation devices for balloon catheter dilation, stent deployment, and fluid dispensing, as well as products for use in heart bypass surgery. The company's ophthalmic products consist of a line of balloon catheters, which are used for the treatment of nasolacrimal duct obstruction in children and adults. It manufactures products for safe needle and scalpel blade containment; inflation systems and valves used in marine and aviation safety products; components used in inflatable survival products and structures; and one-way and two-way pressure relief valves that protect sensitive electronics and other products during transport in other medical and non-medical applications. The company sells its products to physicians, hospitals, clinics, and other treatment centers; and other equipment manufacturers through direct sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors. Atrion Corporation was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Allen, Texas.