Financial Survey: DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) & Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB)

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) and Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares DURECT and Assembly Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DURECT	-187.80%	-261.43%	-66.98%
Assembly Biosciences	N/A	-121.55%	-43.06%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for DURECT and Assembly Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DURECT	0	2	1	0	2.33
Assembly Biosciences	0	1	1	0	2.50

DURECT presently has a consensus price target of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,515.38%. Assembly Biosciences has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 100.46%. Given DURECT’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe DURECT is more favorable than Assembly Biosciences.

Volatility and Risk

DURECT has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assembly Biosciences has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DURECT and Assembly Biosciences”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DURECT	$8.55 million	4.72	-$27.62 million	($0.61)	-2.13
Assembly Biosciences	$21.48 million	4.48	-$61.23 million	N/A	N/A

DURECT has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Assembly Biosciences.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.0% of DURECT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of DURECT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Assembly Biosciences beats DURECT on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DURECT

DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines based on its epigenetic regulator program. The company's lead product larsucosterol (DUR-928), an endogenous, orally bioavailable small molecule that is in Phase IIb clinical trial to play a regulatory role in lipid metabolism, stress and inflammatory responses, and cell death and survival to treat alcohol-associated hepatitis, as well as completed Phase Ib clinical trial to treat patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. It also offers ALZET product line that consists of osmotic pumps and accessories used for research in mice, rats, and other laboratory animals. In addition, the company offers POSIMIR, a post-surgical pain product to deliver bupivacaine over three days in adults; and Methydur to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It markets and sells its ALZET lines through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors in other countries. The company has strategic collaboration and other agreements with Virginia Commonwealth University Intellectual Property Foundation; Indivior UK Ltd.; and Innocoll Pharmaceuticals Limited. DURECT Corporation was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial. The company also develops ABI-4334, a next-generation capsid assembly modulator, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV). In addition, it develops an oral non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor targeting transplant-related herpesviruses; and a small molecule interferon-a receptor agonist targeting HBV and HDV. The company has collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. and BeiGene, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. and changed its name to Assembly Biosciences, Inc. in June 2014. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.