Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) vs. Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Head to Head Review

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) and Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

65.2% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Perrigo shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.1% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Perrigo shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Bio-Rad Laboratories has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perrigo has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and Perrigo”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bio-Rad Laboratories	$2.58 billion	2.77	$759.90 million	$27.91	9.50
Perrigo	$4.25 billion	0.31	-$1.43 billion	($10.28)	-0.93

Bio-Rad Laboratories has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Perrigo. Perrigo 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Bio-Rad Laboratories and Perrigo, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bio-Rad Laboratories	1	2	3	0	2.33
Perrigo	2	3	1	0	1.83

Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has a consensus target price of $358.50, indicating a potential upside of 35.20%. Perrigo has a consensus target price of $19.33, indicating a potential upside of 102.85%. Given Perrigo’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Perrigo is more favorable than Bio-Rad Laboratories.

Profitability

This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and Perrigo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bio-Rad Laboratories	29.42%	3.86%	2.70%
Perrigo	-33.51%	9.41%	3.97%

Summary

Bio-Rad Laboratories beats Perrigo on 9 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. It operates through two segments, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. The company develops, manufactures, and markets instruments, systems, reagents, and consumables to separate, purify, characterize, and quantitate biological materials such as cells, proteins, and nucleic acids for proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety markets. It also designs, manufactures, markets, and supports test systems, informatics systems, test kits, and specialized quality controls for hospitals, diagnostic reference, transfusion, and physician office laboratories. 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 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.