Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALXN) and Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Curis, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Alexion Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 2.36 |
Curis | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Alexion Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $153.1250, suggesting a potential upside of 3.14%. Curis has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.43%. Given Curis' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Curis is more favorable than Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Curis' top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Alexion Pharmaceuticals | $4.99 billion | 6.54 | $2.40 billion | $9.74 | 15.24 |
Curis | $10 million | 53.70 | $-32,140,000.00 | ($0.86) | -10.62 |
Alexion Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Curis. Curis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alexion Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Curis' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Alexion Pharmaceuticals | 16.32% | 23.16% | 14.76% |
Curis | -279.33% | N/A | -81.32% |
Volatility & Risk
Alexion Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Curis has a beta of 3.29, indicating that its stock price is 229% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
87.3% of Alexion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.7% of Curis shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of Alexion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.3% of Curis shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Alexion Pharmaceuticals beats Curis on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.