Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR – Get Free Report) and Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Icon and Alignment Healthcare, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Icon | 0 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2.55 |
| Alignment Healthcare | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 2.69 |
Icon presently has a consensus target price of $204.56, suggesting a potential upside of 8.68%. Alignment Healthcare has a consensus target price of $21.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.43%. Given Icon’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Icon is more favorable than Alignment Healthcare.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Icon | 7.40% | 10.58% | 6.01% |
| Alignment Healthcare | -0.57% | -16.23% | -2.20% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Icon and Alignment Healthcare”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Icon | $8.28 billion | 1.84 | $791.47 million | $7.39 | 25.47 |
| Alignment Healthcare | $2.70 billion | 1.55 | -$128.04 million | ($0.12) | -174.58 |
Icon has higher revenue and earnings than Alignment Healthcare. Alignment Healthcare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Icon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
95.6% of Icon shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Alignment Healthcare shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.0% of Icon shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Alignment Healthcare shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility & Risk
Icon has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alignment Healthcare has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Icon beats Alignment Healthcare on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Alignment Healthcare
Alignment Healthcare, Inc., a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.
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