Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO – Get Free Report) and Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
25.6% of Spero Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Perrigo shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.5% of Spero Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Perrigo shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Spero Therapeutics and Perrigo, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Spero Therapeutics | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Perrigo | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 |
Dividends
Spero Therapeutics pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. Perrigo pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Spero Therapeutics pays out -4.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Perrigo pays out -88.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Perrigo has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years.
Volatility & Risk
Spero Therapeutics has a beta of 0.23, suggesting that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perrigo has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Spero Therapeutics and Perrigo”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Spero Therapeutics | $28.30 million | 1.34 | $22.81 million | ($1.28) | -0.53 |
| Perrigo | $4.34 billion | 0.87 | -$12.70 million | ($1.31) | -20.93 |
Spero Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Perrigo. Perrigo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Spero Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Spero Therapeutics and Perrigo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Spero Therapeutics | 3.30% | 4.03% | 2.21% |
| Perrigo | -3.64% | 7.38% | 3.18% |
Summary
Spero Therapeutics beats Perrigo on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Spero Therapeutics
Spero Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on identifying, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections and rare diseases in the United States. The company’s product candidates include tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide (HBr), an oral carbapenem-class antibiotic to treat complicated urinary tract infections, including pyelonephritis for adults; SPR206, an intravenous-administered antibiotic against MDR Gram-negative pathogens comprising carbapenem-resistant enterobacterales (CRE), acinetobacter baumannii, and pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as negative bacterial infections in the hospital setting; and SPR720, a novel oral antibiotic agent for the treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease. It has license agreement with Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. to support the development of tebipenem HBr; Everest Medicines to develop, manufacture, and commercialize SPR206 in Greater China, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries; and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for patents relating to SPR720, as well as SPR719, an active metabolite. Spero Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Perrigo
Perrigo Company plc provides over-the-counter health and wellness solutions to enhance individual well-being in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Consumer Self-Care Americas and Consumer Self-Care International segments. The company develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes self-care consumer products, such as upper respiratory products, including cough suppressants, expectorants, and sinus and allergy relief; nutrition products consisting of infant formulas and nutritional beverages; digestive health products, including antacids, anti-diarrheal, and anti-heartburn; pain and sleep-aids products comprising pain relievers and fever reducers; and oral care products, which include toothbrushes, toothbrush replacement heads, floss, flossers, whitening products, and toothbrush covers. It also offers healthy lifestyle products, such as smoking cessation, well-being, and weight management products; skin care products consisting of dermatological care, scar management, lice treatment, and other products for various skin conditions; women's health products comprising feminine hygiene and contraceptives; vitamins, minerals, and supplements; rare diseases business; and other miscellaneous self-care products. The company sells its products under the Compeed, Dr. Fresh, Firefly, Good Sense, Good Start, Mederma, Nasonex, Plackers, Prevacid24HR, REACH, Rembrandt, Steripod, Opill, Solpadeine, Coldrex, Physiomer, NiQuitin, ACO, ellaOne, Compeed Stops, XLS, Arterin, Davitamon, Apiserum, Abtei, and Nicorette brands. It also offers contract manufacturing services. The company sells its products through retail drug, supermarket, and mass merchandise chains; e-commerce stores; wholesalers; pharmacies; drug and grocery retailers; and para-pharmacies. The company was formerly known as Perrigo Company and changed its name to Perrigo Company plc in December 2013. Perrigo Company plc was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
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