Reviewing Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SGMO) & Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL)

Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SGMO) and Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sangamo Therapeutics and Exelixis”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sangamo Therapeutics	$176.23 million	1.37	-$257.83 million	($0.75)	-1.55
Exelixis	$1.83 billion	5.23	$207.76 million	$1.56	21.47

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

Risk and Volatility

Sangamo Therapeutics has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exelixis has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Sangamo Therapeutics and Exelixis, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sangamo Therapeutics	0	2	4	0	2.67
Exelixis	1	7	11	0	2.53

Sangamo Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $5.17, suggesting a potential upside of 345.40%. Exelixis has a consensus price target of $36.06, suggesting a potential upside of 7.65%. Given Sangamo Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Sangamo Therapeutics is more favorable than Exelixis.

Profitability

This table compares Sangamo Therapeutics and Exelixis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sangamo Therapeutics	-257.87%	-264.16%	-107.24%
Exelixis	22.43%	20.99%	16.07%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.9% of Sangamo Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.3% of Exelixis shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Sangamo Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Exelixis shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Exelixis beats Sangamo Therapeutics on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sangamo Therapeutics

Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage genomic medicine company, focuses on translating science into medicines that transform the lives of patients and families afflicted with serious diseases in the United States. The company's clinical-stage product candidates are ST-920, a gene therapy product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical study for the treatment of Fabry disease; TX200, a chimeric antigen receptor engineered regulatory T cell (CAR-Treg) therapy product candidate that is in Phase 1/2 clinical study for the prevention of immune-mediated rejection in HLA-A2 mismatched kidney transplantation; SB-525, a gene therapy product candidate, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of moderately severe to severe hemophilia A; BIVV003, a zinc finger nuclease gene-edited cell therapy product candidate that is in Phase 1/2 PRECIZN-1 clinical study for the treatment of sickle cell disease. Its preclinical development products focus on CAR-Treg cell therapies for autoimmune disorders and genome engineering for neurological diseases. Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. has collaborative and strategic partnerships with Biogen MA, Inc.; Kite Pharma, Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Sanofi S.A.; Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.; Shire International GmbH; Dow AgroSciences LLC; Sigma-Aldrich Corporation; Genentech, Inc.; Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc.; and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The company was formerly known as Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. and changed its name to Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. in January 2017. Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Richmond, California.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc., an oncology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers in the United States. The company offers CABOMETYX tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received prior anti-angiogenic therapy; and COMETRIQ capsules for the treatment of progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer. Its CABOMETYX and COMETRIQ are derived from cabozantinib, an inhibitor of multiple tyrosine kinases, including MET, AXL, RET, and VEGF receptors. The company also offers COTELLIC, an inhibitor of MEK as a combination regimen to treat specific forms of advanced melanoma; and MINNEBRO, an oral non-steroidal selective blocker of the mineralocorticoid receptor for the treatment of hypertension in Japan. It develops zanzalintinib, a novel, potent, next-generation oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that targets VEGF receptors, MET and the TAM kinases (TYRO3, AXL and MER); and XB002, a next-generation tissue factor (TF)-targeting ADC, administered via intravenous infusion and composed of a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) against TF that is conjugated to an auristatin-based microtubulin inhibitor (MTI) payload. It has research collaborations and license agreements with Ipsen Pharma SAS; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.; Redwood Bioscience, Inc.; R.P. Scherer Technologies, LLC; Catalent Pharma Solutions, Inc.; NBE Therapeutics AG; Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited; Iconic Therapeutics, Inc.; Invenra, Inc.; StemSynergy Therapeutics, Inc.; Genentech, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; and Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, as well as clinical development agreement with Sairopa B.V. for ADU-1805. The company was formerly known as Exelixis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Exelixis, Inc. in February 2000. Exelixis, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Alameda, California.