Head-To-Head Analysis: Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA) vs. Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

20.4% of Astrazeneca shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Vanda Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 10.7% of Vanda Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Astrazeneca and Vanda Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astrazeneca	$58.74 billion	4.23	$10.22 billion	$6.69	23.94
Vanda Pharmaceuticals	$215.72 million	1.28	-$220.47 million	($4.63)	-0.98

Astrazeneca has higher revenue and earnings than Vanda Pharmaceuticals. Vanda Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Astrazeneca, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Astrazeneca and Vanda Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astrazeneca	1	3	14	0	2.72
Vanda Pharmaceuticals	1	2	6	0	2.56

Astrazeneca currently has a consensus target price of $206.67, suggesting a potential upside of 29.02%. Vanda Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $13.08, suggesting a potential upside of 186.92%. Given Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vanda Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Astrazeneca.

Volatility & Risk

Astrazeneca has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vanda Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Astrazeneca and Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astrazeneca	17.02%	31.45%	13.20%
Vanda Pharmaceuticals	-127.41%	-49.81%	-33.29%

Summary

Astrazeneca beats Vanda Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company’s marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

About Vanda Pharmaceuticals

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies to address high unmet medical needs worldwide. The company’s marketed products include HETLIOZ to treat non-24-hour sleep-wake disorders; and Fanapt oral tablets for the treatment of schizophrenia. Its pipeline products include HETLIOZ (tasimelteon) to treat jet lag disorder, insomnia, delayed sleep phase disorder, sleep disturbances in autism spectrum disorder, and pediatric Non-24; Fanapt (iloperidone) for the treatment of bipolar I disorder and Parkinson’s disease psychosis, as well as a long acting injectable (LAI) formulation to treat schizophrenia; and Tradipitant (VLY-686), a small molecule neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist to treat gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis, and COVID-19 pneumonia. The company’s pipeline products also include VTR-297, a small molecule histone deacetylase inhibitor to treat hematologic malignancies and with potential use as a treatment for various oncology indications; VQW-765, a small molecule nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist to treat performance anxiety and psychiatric disorders; VHX-896, an active metabolite of iloperidone; and antisense oligonucleotide molecules. In addition, it offers a portfolio of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator activators and inhibitors that include VSJ-110 for the treatment of dry eye and ocular inflammation; and VPO-227 for the treatment of secretory diarrhea disorders comprising cholera. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.