IO Biotech (NASDAQ:IOBT) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Head-To-Head Survey

IO Biotech (NASDAQ:IOBT) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

54.8% of IO Biotech shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.3% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of IO Biotech shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares IO Biotech and Ligand Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IO Biotech	N/A	N/A	-$95.49 million	($1.35)	-0.55
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	$251.23 million	15.59	-$4.03 million	$2.07	96.15

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for IO Biotech and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IO Biotech	1	4	1	0	2.00
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	0	1	6	0	2.86

IO Biotech currently has a consensus price target of $6.33, indicating a potential upside of 757.25%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $206.33, indicating a potential upside of 3.67%. Given IO Biotech’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe IO Biotech is more favorable than Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Volatility and Risk

IO Biotech has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares IO Biotech and Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IO Biotech	N/A	-517.22%	-200.69%
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	-40.44%	-9.21%	-8.09%

Summary

Ligand Pharmaceuticals beats IO Biotech on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IO Biotech

IO Biotech, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops immune-modulating therapeutic cancer vaccines based on the T-win technology platform. The company's lead product candidate, IO102-IO103, which is designed to target immunosuppressive mechanisms mediated by Indoleamine 2,3-dehydrogenase (IDO), and programmed death-ligand (PD-L1) that is in phase 3 clinical trial to treat melanoma, as well as in phase 2 clinical trial to treat lung, head and neck, bladder, and melanoma cancer. It also develops IO112, a product candidate that contains a single Arginase 1-derived peptide designed to target T cells that recognize epitopes derived from Arginase 1 for the treatment of cancers. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children. The company also offers TZIELD, a CD3-directed antibody indicated to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes (T1D) in adults and children aged 8 years and older with Stage 2 T1D; Nexterone, a captisol-enabled formulation of amiodarone; Zulresso, a captisol-enabled formulation of brexanolone for the treatment of postpartum depression; and Veklury, an antiviral treatment for moderate or severe COVID-19. In addition, it provides Noxafil-IV, a captisol-enabled formulation of posaconazole for IV use; Duavee for the treatment of post-menopausal symptoms in women; Exemptia for autoimmune diseases; Vivitra for breast cancer; and Bryxta and Zybev for various indications. The company has alliances, licenses, and other business relationships with Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Jazz, Takeda, Gilead Sciences, and Baxter International. Further, it sells Captisol materials. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Jupiter, Florida.