Contrasting argenex (NASDAQ:ARGX) and Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VYGR)

Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VYGR) and argenex (NASDAQ:ARGX) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Voyager Therapeutics and argenex”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Voyager Therapeutics	$40.37 million	2.81	-$119.72 million	($1.73)	-1.05
argenex	$5.82 billion	10.50	$1.29 billion	$28.66	33.90

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

48.0% of Voyager Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.3% of argenex shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.7% of Voyager Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of argenex shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Voyager Therapeutics and argenex, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Voyager Therapeutics	1	0	1	1	2.67
argenex	0	6	21	1	2.82

Voyager Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,269.86%. argenex has a consensus price target of $1,158.76, suggesting a potential upside of 19.27%. Given Voyager Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Voyager Therapeutics is more favorable than argenex.

Profitability

This table compares Voyager Therapeutics and argenex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Voyager Therapeutics	-416.32%	-63.42%	-49.40%
argenex	31.66%	47.70%	40.12%

Volatility and Risk

Voyager Therapeutics has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, argenex has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

argenex beats Voyager Therapeutics on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Voyager Therapeutics

Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for neurological diseases. The company aims to address conditions affecting the central nervous system by using adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene-delivery technologies to deliver therapeutic genes to targeted areas of the brain and nervous system. Voyager’s research platform, known as TRACER, is designed to identify AAV capsids with improved ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the central nervous system.

About argenex

argenx SE is a global immunology company focused on developing medicines for autoimmune diseases. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in the Netherlands, the company uses antibody engineering and other research approaches to identify and develop treatments for conditions with significant unmet medical needs. Its lead medicine is efgartigimod, marketed as Vyvgart and Vyvgart Hytrulo. These products target the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) and are approved in the United States for certain patients with generalized myasthenia gravis; Vyvgart Hytrulo is also approved for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. argenx continues to study efgartigimod in additional diseases and develop other potential therapies. argenx operates internationally, with commercial activities and research collaborations across multiple markets.