Comparing GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) & Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH)

GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) and Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for GeneDx and Astrana Health, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GeneDx	1	1	7	0	2.67
Astrana Health	0	2	7	0	2.78

GeneDx presently has a consensus target price of $89.57, indicating a potential upside of 16.21%. Astrana Health has a consensus target price of $48.29, indicating a potential upside of 35.03%. Given Astrana Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Astrana Health is more favorable than GeneDx.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.7% of GeneDx shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Astrana Health shares are held by institutional investors. 25.2% of GeneDx shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.3% of Astrana Health shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

GeneDx has a beta of 1.92, indicating that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrana Health has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GeneDx and Astrana Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GeneDx	-23.41%	4.12%	2.26%
Astrana Health	1.05%	10.43%	3.67%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares GeneDx and Astrana Health”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GeneDx	$427.54 million	5.35	-$21.02 million	($3.64)	-21.18
Astrana Health	$3.18 billion	0.63	$22.49 million	$0.82	43.61

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

Summary

Astrana Health beats GeneDx on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GeneDx

GeneDx Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides genomics-related diagnostic and information services. The company offers Centrellis, an AI-driven health intelligence platform that integrates digital tools and artificial intelligence allowing scientists to ingest and synthesize clinical and genomic data to deliver comprehensive health insights. It provides genetic diagnostic tests, screening solutions, and information with a focus on pediatrics, rare diseases for children and adults, and hereditary cancer screening. GeneDx Holdings Corp. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

About Astrana Health

Astrana Health, Inc., Inc., a physician-centric technology-powered healthcare management company, provides medical care services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Care Partners, Care Delivery, and Care Enablement. The company is leveraging its proprietary population health management and healthcare delivery platform, operates an integrated, value-based healthcare model which empowers the providers in its network to deliver care to its patients. It offers care coordination services to patients, families, primary care physicians, specialists, acute care hospitals, alternative sites of inpatient care, physician groups, and health plans. The company's physician network consists of primary care physicians, specialist physicians and extenders, and hospitalists. It serves patients, primarily covered by private or public insurance, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and health maintenance organization plans; and non-insured patients. The company was formerly known as Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Astrana Health, Inc. in February 2024. Astrana Health, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Alhambra, California.