Head-To-Head Review: Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) versus NLS Pharmaceutics (NASDAQ:NCEL)

NLS Pharmaceutics (NASDAQ:NCEL) and Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for NLS Pharmaceutics and Protara Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NLS Pharmaceutics	1	0	0	0	1.00
Protara Therapeutics	1	0	5	1	2.86

Protara Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $19.60, indicating a potential upside of 344.95%. Given Protara Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Protara Therapeutics is more favorable than NLS Pharmaceutics.

Risk & Volatility

NLS Pharmaceutics has a beta of 0.08, suggesting that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Protara Therapeutics has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NLS Pharmaceutics and Protara Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NLS Pharmaceutics	N/A	N/A	N/A
Protara Therapeutics	N/A	-36.87%	-33.85%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NLS Pharmaceutics and Protara Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NLS Pharmaceutics	N/A	N/A	-$1.98 million	N/A	N/A
Protara Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$44.60 million	($1.62)	-2.72

Insider & Institutional Ownership

38.1% of Protara Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of NLS Pharmaceutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Protara Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Protara Therapeutics beats NLS Pharmaceutics on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NLS Pharmaceutics

NLS Pharmaceutics AG, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of therapies for patients with rare and complex central nervous system disorders. The company is focusing on the development of treatments for narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, and other rare sleep disorders, as well as neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Its lead product candidates include Quilience to treat excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy; and Nolazol for the treatment of ADHD. The company also developing NLS-4, a selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor to prevent rare sleep disorders; NLS-3, a repurposed reverse ester of methylphenidate for treatment of ADHD; NLS-8, a melatonin ML1A receptor agonist, improved scopolamine-induced amnesia; NLS-11, a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor and muscarinic M1, M2, M3 receptor antagonist; and NLS-12, a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor and muscarinic M4 receptor antagonist. NLS Pharmaceutics AG was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

About Protara Therapeutics

Protara Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in advancing transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases. The company's lead program is TARA-002, an investigational cell therapy, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and lymphatic malformations. It is also developing intravenous choline chloride, an investigational phospholipid substrate replacement therapy that is in Phase II clinical trial for patients receiving parenteral nutrition. The company is headquartered in New York, New York.