Orion OYJ (OTCMKTS:ORINY) vs. Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Critical Survey

Orion OYJ (OTCMKTS:ORINY) and Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Orion OYJ and Perrigo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orion OYJ	30.25%	54.09%	33.33%
Perrigo	-43.27%	12.39%	4.07%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Orion OYJ and Perrigo”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orion OYJ	$2.14 billion	7.63	$566.04 million	$2.71	21.32
Perrigo	$4.25 billion	0.51	-$1.43 billion	($12.76)	-1.23

Orion OYJ has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Perrigo. Perrigo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orion OYJ, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Orion OYJ and Perrigo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orion OYJ	0	1	0	1	3.00
Perrigo	2	3	1	0	1.83

Perrigo has a consensus target price of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.67%. Given Perrigo’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Perrigo is more favorable than Orion OYJ.

Volatility & Risk

Orion OYJ has a beta of 0.05, meaning that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perrigo has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Orion OYJ pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Perrigo pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Orion OYJ pays out 13.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Perrigo pays out -9.1% 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 increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years. Perrigo is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.9% of Perrigo shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Perrigo shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

About Orion OYJ

Orion Oyj develops, manufactures, and markets human and veterinary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in Finland, Scandinavia, rest of Europe, North America, and internationally. The company provides prescription drugs and self-care products, which includes Nubeqa for the treatment of prostate cancer; Precedex, Dexdor, and Precedex for human use; Burana for inflammatory pain; Divina series for menopausal symptoms; Trexan for rheumatoid arthritis and cancer; Stalevo, Entacapone, and Comtess/Comtan for Parkinson’s disease; Biosimilars for rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases; and Simdax for acute decompensated heart failure, as well as Fareston for breast cancer. It also offers Salmeterol/fluticasone Easyhaler, Budesonide/formoterol Easyhaler, Formoterol Easyhaler, Budesonide Easyhaler, Beclomet Easyhaler, and Buventol Easyhaler drugs for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In addition, the company provides veterinary drugs comprising Bonqat, Clevor, Domosedan, Domitor, Antisedan, Dexdomitor, Domosedan Gel, Sileo, and Tessie; APIs for generic compounds and proprietary products, as well as contract manufacturing services; and markets and sells veterinary drugs manufactured by other international companies. Further, the company has partnership with Propeller Health to connect the Easyhaler(R) product portfolio; and a research collaboration and license agreement with Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to commercialize Amneal’s generic products. Orion Oyj was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.

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.