Head to Head Survey: Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) & Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG)

Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) and Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Passage Bio and Qiagen”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Passage Bio	N/A	N/A	-$102.06 million	($1.17)	-0.60
Qiagen	$1.97 billion	5.22	$341.30 million	$0.39	115.41

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

Profitability

This table compares Passage Bio and Qiagen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Passage Bio	N/A	-72.53%	-52.10%
Qiagen	4.73%	13.43%	8.10%

Risk & Volatility

Passage Bio has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qiagen has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.5% of Passage Bio shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.0% of Qiagen shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Passage Bio shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of Qiagen shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Passage Bio and Qiagen, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Passage Bio	0	0	4	0	3.00
Qiagen	0	4	5	0	2.56

Passage Bio currently has a consensus price target of $7.75, indicating a potential upside of 1,007.14%. Qiagen has a consensus price target of $51.50, indicating a potential upside of 14.42%. Given Passage Bio’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Passage Bio is more favorable than Qiagen.

Summary

Qiagen beats Passage Bio on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Passage Bio

Passage Bio, Inc., a genetic medicines company, develops gene therapies for central nervous system diseases. It develops PBGM01, a functional GLB1 gene encoding ß-galactosidase for infantile GM1; PBFT02, a functional granulin (GRN) and gene encoding progranulin (PGRN) for the treatment of FTD caused by progranulin deficiency; and PBKR03, a functional GALC gene encoding the hydrolytic enzyme galactosylceramidase for infantile Krabbe disease. The company develops PBML04 for the treatment of metachromatic leukodystrophy; PBAL05 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and other program for huntington's disease. It has a strategic research collaboration with the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania's Gene Therapy Program; and collaboration agreement, and a development services and clinical supply agreement with Catalent Maryland, Inc. Passage Bio, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

About Qiagen

QIAGEN N.V. offers sample to insight solutions that transform biological materials into molecular insights worldwide. The company provides primary sample technology consumables, such as nucleic stabilization and purification kits for primary sample materials, manual and automated processing for genotyping, gene expression, and viral and bacterial analysis, as well as silica membranes and magnetic bead technologies; secondary sample technology consumables, including kits and components for purification of nucleic acids from secondary sample materials; and instruments for nucleic acid purification and accessories. It also provides interferon-gamma release assay for TB testing, and assays for post-transplant testing and viral load monitoring; assays for prenatal testing and detection of sexually transmitted diseases and HPV, as well as assays for analysis of genomic variants, such as mutations, insertions, deletions, and fusions; and sample to insight instruments, including one-step molecular analysis of hard-to-diagnose syndromes, and integrated PCR testing. In addition, it offers PCR consumables, such as quantitative PCR, reverse transcription, and combinations kits for analysis of gene expression, genotyping and gene regulation, and running on QIAGEN instruments and technologies; human ID and forensics assay consumables, including STR assays for human ID, and assays for food contamination; PCR instruments consist of digital PCR and qPCR solutions; and developed and configured enzymes and PCR solutions. Further, the company provides predefined and custom NGS gene panels, library prep kits and components, and whole genome amplification; QIAGEN consumables and instruments, as well as bioinformatics solutions; and custom laboratory and genomic services. It serves molecular diagnostics, academia, pharmaceutical, and applied testing customers. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.