Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN – Get Free Report) and Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.
Risk & Volatility
Qiagen has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Icon has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Qiagen and Icon, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Qiagen | 0 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2.43 |
| Icon | 2 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2.41 |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Qiagen and Icon”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Qiagen | $2.10 billion | 4.16 | $424.88 million | $1.95 | 21.74 |
| Icon | $8.29 billion | 1.56 | $229.34 million | $4.26 | 39.74 |
Qiagen has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Icon. Qiagen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Icon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Qiagen and Icon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Qiagen | 19.49% | 14.47% | 8.34% |
| Icon | 3.99% | 8.02% | 4.56% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
70.0% of Qiagen shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.6% of Icon shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Qiagen shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 44.0% of Icon shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
About Qiagen
QIAGEN NV is a holding company, which engages in the provision of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. The company sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from blood, tissue, and other materials. The firm assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Its bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. The company was founded by Detlev H. Riesner and Metin Colpan on April 29, 1996, and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.
About Icon
ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. It also offers clinical development services, including all phases of development, peri and post approval, data solutions, and site and patient access services; clinical trial management, consulting, and contract staffing services; and commercial services comprising clinical development strategy, planning and trial design, full study execution, and post-market commercialization. In addition, the company provides laboratory services, including bionanalytical, biomarker, vaccine, good manufacturing practice, and central laboratory services, as well as full-service and functional service partnerships to customers. Further, it offers adaptive trials, cardiac safety solutions, clinical and scientific operations, consulting and advisory, commercial positioning, decentralized and hybrid clinical trials, early clinical, laboratories, language services, medical imaging, real world intelligence, site and patient, and strategic solutions. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, as well as government and public health organizations. ICON Public Limited Company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
Receive News & Ratings for Qiagen Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Qiagen and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
-logo-1200x675.jpg){kind=logo}