Head to Head Analysis: Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) and electroCore (NASDAQ:ECOR)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.7% of electroCore shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.8% of electroCore shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Collegium Pharmaceutical shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for electroCore and Collegium Pharmaceutical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
electroCore	2	0	1	0	1.67
Collegium Pharmaceutical	0	3	4	0	2.57

electroCore presently has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 169.06%. Collegium Pharmaceutical has a consensus target price of $53.40, indicating a potential upside of 60.60%. Given electroCore’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe electroCore is more favorable than Collegium Pharmaceutical.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
electroCore	$32.03 million	1.69	-$13.97 million	($1.65)	-4.05
Collegium Pharmaceutical	$780.57 million	1.35	$62.87 million	$1.71	19.44

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

Volatility and Risk

electroCore has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Collegium Pharmaceutical has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares electroCore and Collegium Pharmaceutical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
electroCore	-43.60%	-1,956.38%	-74.62%
Collegium Pharmaceutical	8.05%	98.65%	15.86%

Summary

Collegium Pharmaceutical beats electroCore on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About electroCore

electroCore, Inc., a commercial stage bioelectronic medicine and wellness company, provides non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation technology platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company is developing gammaCore, a prescription only handheld device intended for regular or intermittent use for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine and episodic cluster headache, as well as for the treatment of hemicrania continua and paroxysmal hemicrania. It also develops Truvaga for the support of general health and wellbeing; and TAC-STIM for human performance. In addition, the company offers gammacore Sapphire, a portable, reusable, rechargeable, and reloadable prescription medical device for various primary headache conditions. electroCore, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Rockaway, New Jersey.

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.