Analyzing BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) and Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR)

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) and BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.6% of Icon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 44.0% of Icon shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Icon has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioLife Solutions has a beta of 1.82, meaning that its stock price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Icon and BioLife Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Icon	1	9	9	1	2.50
BioLife Solutions	0	10	1	0	2.09

Icon presently has a consensus target price of $213.76, indicating a potential upside of 9.82%. BioLife Solutions has a consensus target price of $31.38, indicating a potential downside of 18.74%. Given Icon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Icon is more favorable than BioLife Solutions.

Profitability

This table compares Icon and BioLife Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Icon	5.45%	7.73%	4.39%
BioLife Solutions	53.29%	2.70%	2.49%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Icon and BioLife Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Icon	$8.25 billion	1.81	$229.34 million	$5.81	33.50
BioLife Solutions	$106.69 million	17.71	-$4.59 million	$1.16	33.28

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

Summary

Icon beats BioLife Solutions on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Icon

ICON plc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations. Its work supports the development of medicines and other healthcare products from early research through clinical trials and regulatory submission. The company’s services include clinical trial design and management, data management and biostatistics, regulatory support, laboratory services, medical imaging and patient recruitment.

About BioLife Solutions

BioLife Solutions, Inc. develops and supplies products and services used in the development and commercial production of cell and gene therapies and other biologic medicines. Its offerings support the handling, preservation, storage and distribution of sensitive biological materials. The company’s products include CryoStor and HypoThermosol preservation media, as well as CellSeal bags designed for cryogenic storage. BioLife also provides temperature-controlled storage and repository services for biological materials through its SciSafe business.