Analyzing Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) & Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR)

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) and Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Pliant Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals	1	3	10	1	2.73
Pliant Therapeutics	1	1	1	0	2.00

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $99.07, suggesting a potential upside of 110.12%. Pliant Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 305.41%. Given Pliant Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pliant Therapeutics is more favorable than Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals.

Risk and Volatility

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Pliant Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals	$829.45 million	8.01	-$1.63 million	($2.25)	-20.96
Pliant Therapeutics	$1.58 million	29.00	-$149.34 million	($1.49)	-0.50

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

Profitability

This table compares Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Pliant Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals	-47.79%	-60.06%	-17.37%
Pliant Therapeutics	N/A	-52.17%	-40.46%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.6% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.7% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Pliant Therapeutics beats Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that develops medicines using RNA interference (RNAi), a biological process that can reduce the production of specific proteins by silencing the genes that encode them. Its proprietary Targeted RNAi Molecule (TRiM) platform is designed to deliver RNAi treatments to targeted tissues. The company’s research and development programs address a range of conditions, including liver, cardiometabolic, pulmonary and neurological diseases. Its work centers on investigational medicines and drug-development partnerships.

About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing therapies for fibrotic diseases. The company’s research is centered on integrin biology, a field involving proteins that regulate cell communication and tissue remodeling. Pliant aims to develop medicines that address the underlying processes that drive fibrosis in organs such as the lungs and liver. Pliant’s lead investigational product is bexotegrast, an oral, selective inhibitor of the integrins αvβ1 and αvβ6.