Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) and Heron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HRTX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.
Risk and Volatility
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a beta of 2.28, indicating that its share price is 128% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heron Therapeutics has a beta of 1.69, indicating that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Heron Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 2.81 |
| Heron Therapeutics | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.90 |
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical presently has a consensus target price of $81.3571, indicating a potential downside of 5.44%. Heron Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $38.1111, indicating a potential upside of 145.40%. Given Heron Therapeutics' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Heron Therapeutics is more favorable than Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
99.9% of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of Heron Therapeutics shares are held by company 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.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Heron Therapeutics' top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical | $103.71 million | 49.49 | $-402,730,000.00 | ($7.36) | -11.69 |
| Heron Therapeutics | $145.97 million | 9.64 | $-204,750,000.00 | ($2.50) | -6.21 |
Heron Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heron Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Heron Therapeutics' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical | -348.78% | -60.65% | -40.51% |
| Heron Therapeutics | -138.31% | -56.85% | -43.05% |
Summary
Heron Therapeutics beats Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
