Contrasting Portage Biotech (NASDAQ:PRTG) & Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) and Portage Biotech (NASDAQ:PRTG) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Cytokinetics and Portage Biotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cytokinetics	-17,906.25%	N/A	-50.21%
Portage Biotech	N/A	-342.34%	-196.47%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Cytokinetics and Portage Biotech, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cytokinetics	0	2	15	1	2.94
Portage Biotech	0	0	0	0	0.00

Cytokinetics presently has a consensus target price of $82.00, suggesting a potential upside of 89.44%. Given Cytokinetics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cytokinetics is more favorable than Portage Biotech.

Volatility and Risk

Cytokinetics has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Portage Biotech has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.4% of Portage Biotech shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Cytokinetics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 42.1% of Portage Biotech shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cytokinetics and Portage Biotech”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cytokinetics	$18.47 million	277.44	-$526.24 million	($5.26)	-8.23
Portage Biotech	N/A	N/A	-$75.34 million	($41.65)	-0.11

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

Summary

Cytokinetics beats Portage Biotech on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. The company develops small molecule drug candidates primarily engineered to impact muscle function and contractility. Its drug candidates include omecamtiv mecarbil, a novel cardiac myosin activator that is in Phase III clinical trial in patients with heart failure. The company also develops CK-136, a novel cardiac troponin activator that is in Phase I clinical trial; CK-586, a small molecule cardiac myosin inhibitor, that is in Phase I clinical trial; and aficamten, a novel cardiac myosin inhibitor, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cytokinetics, Incorporated has a strategic alliance with Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals Limited. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Portage Biotech

Portage Biotech Inc., a clinical stage immune-oncology company, engages in the research and develops pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. Its product pipeline includes PORT-2 for treatment of refractory NSCLC, melanoma, and refractory melanoma that is in phase I and phase II clinical trials; PORT-3, for treatment of solid tumors, which is in phase I clinical trials; PORT-6, an A2AR inhibitor to treat A2A & A2B high solid tumors that is in phase Ia clinical trials; PORT-7, an A2AR inhibitor to treat A2A & A2B high solid tumors that is in phase Ib clinical trials; PORT-1, an intratumoral amphiphilic solutions for treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma, which is in phase 3 clinical trials; PORT-4, a nanolipogel co-formulations to treat of solid tumors that is in preclinical trials; and PORT-5, a VLP-STING to treat of solid tumors that is in preclinical trials. The company is based in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.