Critical Survey: Acerus Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:ASPCF) and CSL (OTCMKTS:CSLLY)

CSL (OTCMKTS:CSLLY) and Acerus Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:ASPCF) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

CSL has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acerus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares CSL and Acerus Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CSL	N/A	N/A	N/A
Acerus Pharmaceuticals	-924.33%	N/A	-74.62%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CSL and Acerus Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CSL	$14.80 billion	5.84	$2.64 billion	N/A	N/A
Acerus Pharmaceuticals	$2.12 million	0.80	-$33.82 million	($3.57)	-0.06

CSL has higher revenue and earnings than Acerus Pharmaceuticals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of CSL shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for CSL and Acerus Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CSL	0	0	0	1	4.00
Acerus Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00

Summary

CSL beats Acerus Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CSL

CSL Limited researches, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes biopharmaceutical and vaccines in Australia, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The company operates through CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus, and CSL Vifor segments. The CSL Behring segment offers plasma products, gene therapies, and recombinants. The CSL Seqirus segment provides influenza related products and pandemic services to governments. The CSL Vifor segment offers products in the therapeutic areas of iron deficiency and nephrology. The company also licenses CSL intellectual property. CSL Limited was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

About Acerus Pharmaceuticals

Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corp. is a pharmaceutical company. The firm is focused on the commercialization and development of prescription products that improve patient experience, with a focus in the field of men’s health. It focuses on therapeutics for urology, andrology, and endocrinology. Its products include Estrace and Natesto. The company was founded by Bruce D. Brydon, Rolf K. Reininghaus and Mark L. Thompson on September 9, 2008 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.