Reviewing Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) & Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL)

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

Profitability

This table compares Collegium Pharmaceutical and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Collegium Pharmaceutical	17.32%	107.62%	19.50%
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	-24.31%	-11.84%	-8.25%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Collegium Pharmaceutical and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Collegium Pharmaceutical	0	2	3	0	2.60
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	0	1	3	0	2.75

Collegium Pharmaceutical currently has a consensus price target of $42.60, suggesting a potential upside of 12.94%. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 41.24%. Given Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Collegium Pharmaceutical.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

36.8% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Collegium Pharmaceutical shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Collegium Pharmaceutical has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Collegium Pharmaceutical and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Collegium Pharmaceutical	$576.65 million	2.14	$48.15 million	$2.40	15.72
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	$207.11 million	4.88	-$78.02 million	($0.43)	-16.47

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

Summary

Collegium Pharmaceutical beats Aurinia Pharmaceuticals on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Collegium Pharmaceutical

Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of medicines for pain management. Its portfolio includes Xtampza ER, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release, and oral formulation of oxycodone for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment; Nucynta ER and Nucynta IR, which are extended-release and immediate-release formulations of tapentadol, indicated for the management of acute, severe, and persistent pain; Belbuca, a buccal film that contains buprenorphine; and Symproic, an oral formulation of naldemedine for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in adult patients with chronic non-cancer pain. The company was formerly known as Collegium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. in October 2003. Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to treat various diseases with unmet medical need in the United States. It offers LUPKYNIS for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.