Critical Comparison: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) and Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN)

Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Myriad Genetics and Ligand Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Myriad Genetics	$824.50 million	0.47	-$365.90 million	($1.19)	-3.38
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	$268.09 million	22.20	$124.45 million	$9.35	31.93

Ligand Pharmaceuticals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Myriad Genetics. Myriad Genetics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ligand Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Myriad Genetics and Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Myriad Genetics	-13.96%	-16.09%	-8.10%
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	67.88%	20.06%	11.68%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Myriad Genetics and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Myriad Genetics	3	4	0	0	1.57
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	0	0	9	0	3.00

Myriad Genetics presently has a consensus target price of $3.12, indicating a potential downside of 22.39%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $335.75, indicating a potential upside of 12.48%. Given Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ligand Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Myriad Genetics.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.0% of Myriad Genetics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.3% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Myriad Genetics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Myriad Genetics has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its share price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ligand Pharmaceuticals beats Myriad Genetics on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics, Inc., a genetic testing and precision medicine company, develops genetic tests in the United States and internationally. The company offers molecular diagnostic tests for use in oncology, and women's and pharmacogenomics. It also provides MyRisk Hereditary Cancer Test, a DNA sequencing test for assessing the risks for hereditary cancers; BRACAnalysis CDx Germline Companion Diagnostic Test, a DNA sequencing test to help determine the therapy for patients with metastatic breast, ovarian, metastatic pancreatic, and metastatic prostate cancer with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA variants; and MyChoice CDx Companion Diagnostic Test, a tumor test that determines homologous recombination deficiency status in patients with ovarian cancer. The company also offers Prolaris Prostate Cancer Prognostic Test, an RNA expression tumor analysis for assessing the aggressiveness of prostate cancer; EndoPredict Breast Cancer Prognostic Test, an RNA expression test for assessing the aggressiveness of breast cancer; Precise Tumor, a solution for precision oncology; and Prequel Prenatal Screen, a non-invasive prenatal screening test conducted using maternal blood to screen for severe chromosomal disorders in a fetus. It provides Foresight Carrier Screen, a prenatal test for future parents to assess their risk of passing on a recessive genetic condition to their offspring; SneakPeek, a non-invasive blood test that predicts the gender of a fetus; and GeneSight Psychotropic Mental Health Medication Test, a DNA genotyping test to aid psychotropic drug selection for patients suffering from depression, anxiety, attention-deficit, hyperactivity disorder, and other mental health conditions. It has a strategic collaboration with Illumina, Inc., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, SimonMed, and Onsite Women's Health. Myriad Genetics, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children. The company also offers TZIELD, a CD3-directed antibody indicated to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes (T1D) in adults and children aged 8 years and older with Stage 2 T1D; Nexterone, a captisol-enabled formulation of amiodarone; Zulresso, a captisol-enabled formulation of brexanolone for the treatment of postpartum depression; and Veklury, an antiviral treatment for moderate or severe COVID-19. In addition, it provides Noxafil-IV, a captisol-enabled formulation of posaconazole for IV use; Duavee for the treatment of post-menopausal symptoms in women; Exemptia for autoimmune diseases; Vivitra for breast cancer; and Bryxta and Zybev for various indications. The company has alliances, licenses, and other business relationships with Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Jazz, Takeda, Gilead Sciences, and Baxter International. Further, it sells Captisol materials. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Jupiter, Florida.