Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD – Get Free Report) and Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
72.8% of Autolus Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 9.3% of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.7% of Autolus Therapeutics shares are held by 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.
Profitability
This table compares Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Autolus Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals | 37.38% | -81.40% | 42.69% |
| Autolus Therapeutics | -238.66% | -178.66% | -49.34% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Autolus Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals | $296.15 million | 2.72 | $24.02 million | $0.90 | 5.41 |
| Autolus Therapeutics | $117.39 million | 2.80 | -$287.53 million | ($1.06) | -1.17 |
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Autolus Therapeutics. Autolus Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Autolus Therapeutics has a beta of 2.32, meaning that its share price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations for Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Autolus Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2.57 |
| Autolus Therapeutics | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2.88 |
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $6.23, indicating a potential upside of 27.99%. Autolus Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 709.72%. Given Autolus Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Autolus Therapeutics is more favorable than Ironwood Pharmaceuticals.
Summary
Autolus Therapeutics beats Ironwood Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for gastrointestinal diseases. Founded in 1998, the company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its principal product is LINZESS (linaclotide), a prescription medicine for adults with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation. Ironwood and AbbVie collaborate on the product’s U.S. commercialization, while licensing partners make linaclotide available in other markets under regional brand names.
About Autolus Therapeutics
Autolus Therapeutics plc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing engineered T-cell therapies for cancer. Its treatments are designed to program a patient’s T cells to recognize and attack specific cancer cells, using the company’s proprietary cell-engineering technology. The company’s lead therapy, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), is marketed as Aucel and is approved in the United States and European Union for certain adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
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