Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO.B – Get Free Report) and Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
0.0% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of Charles River Laboratories International shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.4% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Charles River Laboratories International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and Charles River Laboratories International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | 8.59% | 3.54% | 2.48% |
| Charles River Laboratories International | -5.96% | 15.75% | 6.51% |
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | $2.58 billion | 3.49 | $759.90 million | $8.25 | 40.85 |
| Charles River Laboratories International | $4.02 billion | 3.33 | -$144.34 million | ($4.85) | -57.67 |
Bio-Rad Laboratories has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Charles River Laboratories International. Charles River Laboratories International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bio-Rad Laboratories, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Bio-Rad Laboratories has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charles River Laboratories International has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Bio-Rad Laboratories and Charles River Laboratories International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Charles River Laboratories International | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 2.69 |
Charles River Laboratories International has a consensus target price of $255.65, indicating a potential downside of 8.60%. Given Charles River Laboratories International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Charles River Laboratories International is more favorable than Bio-Rad Laboratories.
Summary
Charles River Laboratories International beats Bio-Rad Laboratories on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Bio-Rad Laboratories
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. manufactures, and distributes life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company operates through Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics segments. The Life Science segment develops, manufactures, and markets a range of reagents, apparatus, and laboratory instruments that are used in research techniques, biopharmaceutical production processes, and food testing regimes. It focuses on selected segments of the life sciences market in proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety. This segment serves universities and medical schools, industrial research organizations, government agencies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology researchers, food producers, and food testing laboratories. The Clinical Diagnostics segment designs, manufactures, sells, and supports test systems, informatics systems, test kits, and specialized quality controls for clinical laboratories in the diagnostics market. This segment offers reagents, instruments, and software, which address specific niches within the in vitro diagnostics test market. It sells its products to reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, state newborn screening facilities, physicians' office laboratories, and transfusion laboratories. In addition, the company offers products and systems to separate complex chemical and biological materials, as well as to identify, analyze, and purify components. The company offers its products through its direct sales force, as well as through distributors, agents, brokers, and resellers. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Hercules, California.
About Charles River Laboratories International
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing). The RMS segment produces and sells rodents, and purpose-bred rats and mice for use by researchers. This segment also provides a range of services to assist its clients in supporting the use of research models in research and screening pre-clinical drug candidates, including research models, genetically engineered models and services, insourcing solutions, and research animal diagnostic services. The DSA segment offers early and in vivo discovery services for the identification and validation of novel targets, chemical compounds, and antibodies through delivery of preclinical drug and therapeutic candidates ready for safety assessment; and safety assessment services, such as toxicology, pathology, safety pharmacology, bioanalysis, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetics services. The Manufacturing segment provides in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing of sterile and non-sterile pharmaceuticals and consumer products. This segment also offers specialized testing of biologics that are outsourced by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It also provides contract vivarium operation services to biopharmaceutical clients. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
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