Contrasting Zealand Pharma A/S (OTCMKTS:ZLDPF) and Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS)

Zealand Pharma A/S (OTCMKTS:ZLDPF) and Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

43.8% of Arbutus Biopharma shares are held by institutional investors. 19.9% of Arbutus Biopharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Zealand Pharma A/S and Arbutus Biopharma, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zealand Pharma A/S	0	5	0	3	2.75
Arbutus Biopharma	1	0	1	0	2.00

Arbutus Biopharma has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.92%. Given Arbutus Biopharma’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Arbutus Biopharma is more favorable than Zealand Pharma A/S.

Risk & Volatility

Zealand Pharma A/S has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arbutus Biopharma has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Zealand Pharma A/S and Arbutus Biopharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zealand Pharma A/S	68.82%	41.50%	37.90%
Arbutus Biopharma	83.95%	129.32%	112.24%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zealand Pharma A/S and Arbutus Biopharma”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zealand Pharma A/S	$1.40 billion	2.51	$977.29 million	$13.48	3.63
Arbutus Biopharma	$14.08 million	59.49	-$33.50 million	($0.17)	-24.94

Zealand Pharma A/S has higher revenue and earnings than Arbutus Biopharma. Arbutus Biopharma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zealand Pharma A/S, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Arbutus Biopharma beats Zealand Pharma A/S on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zealand Pharma A/S

Zealand Pharma A/S, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of peptide-based medicines in Denmark. It has a portfolio of medicines focusing on gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, and other specialty disease areas with unmet medical needs. The company offers Dasiglucagon, a single use syringe or autoinjector for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; and Dasiglucagon bi-hormone artificial pancreas systems containing insulin and dasiglucagon. Its pipeline includes Dasiglucagon that is in Phase III clinical trials for treating congenital hyperinsulinism. The company is also developing glepaglutide, a long acting GLP-2 analog, which is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of short bowel syndrome. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Søborg, Denmark.

About Arbutus Biopharma

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the United States. Its HBV product pipeline consists of imdusiran (AB-729), a proprietary subcutaneously-delivered RNAi therapeutic product candidate that suppresses all HBV antigens, including HBsAg expression. The company’s research and development programs include AB-101, an oral PD-L1 inhibitor to reawaken patients’ HBV-specific immune system; and small molecule antiviral medicines to treat coronaviruses, including COVID-19. It has licensing agreements with Gritstone Oncology, Inc; Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Qilu Pharmaceuticals Co, Ltd; Assembly Biosciences, Inc.; Acuitas Therapeutics, Inc.; and Antios Therapeutics, Inc. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation also has a clinical collaboration agreement with Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc to evaluate VTP-300. The company was formerly known as Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Arbutus Biopharma Corporation in July 2015. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is headquartered in Warminster, Pennsylvania.