Comparing Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) and Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VYGR)

Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VYGR) and Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Voyager Therapeutics and Precigen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Voyager Therapeutics	-312.63%	-57.92%	-45.00%
Precigen	-183.98%	423.75%	84.39%

Volatility and Risk

Voyager Therapeutics has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Precigen has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.0% of Voyager Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.5% of Precigen shares are held by institutional investors. 12.7% of Voyager Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.4% of Precigen shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Voyager Therapeutics and Precigen, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Voyager Therapeutics	1	0	2	1	2.75
Precigen	1	0	3	1	2.80

Voyager Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $16.50, suggesting a potential upside of 385.29%. Precigen has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 111.06%. Given Voyager Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Voyager Therapeutics is more favorable than Precigen.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Voyager Therapeutics and Precigen”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Voyager Therapeutics	$40.37 million	5.19	-$119.72 million	($1.80)	-1.89
Precigen	$9.68 million	253.02	-$250.64 million	($1.04)	-6.61

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

Summary

Precigen beats Voyager Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Voyager Therapeutics

Voyager Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the treatment of gene therapy and neurology diseases. The company's lead clinical candidate is VY-TAU01, an anti-tau antibody program for the treatment of alzheimer's disease. Its product pipeline includes superoxide dismutase 1 silencing gene therapy, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; tau silencing gene therapy, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of alzheimer's disease; and vectorized anti-amyloid antibody, a gene therapy targeting anti-amyloid for the treatment of alzheimer's disease and is in preclinical trial. In addition, the company develops VY-FXN01, which is in preclinical trial to treat friedreich's ataxia; and GBA1 gene replacement to treat parkinson's disease and is in preclinical trial. Further, it provides research program for the treatment of Huntington's disease. The company has collaboration and license agreements with Alexion; AstraZeneca Rare Disease; Novartis Pharma AG; Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc; and Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc. operates as a discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target diseases in therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. It operates through two segments, Biopharmaceuticals and Exemplar. The company offers therapeutic platforms consisting of UltraCAR-T to provide chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies for cancer patients; AdenoVerse immunotherapy, which utilizes a library of proprietary adenovectors for gene delivery of therapeutic effectors, immunomodulators, and vaccine antigen; and ActoBiotics for specific disease modification. It also develops programs based on the UltraCAR-T platform, including PRGN-3005 in Phase 1b clinical trial to treat advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer; PRGN-3006 in Phase 1b trial for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes; and PRGN-3007 in Phase 1/1b trial for the treatment of advanced receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1-positive, hematologic, and solid tumors. In addition, the company is developing programs based on the AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform comprising PRGN-2009 in Phase 2 trial for patients with HPV-associated cancer; and PRGN-2012 in Phase ½ trial to treat recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as AG019, which is based on the ActoBiotics platform and in Phase 1b/2a trial, to treat type 1 diabetes mellitus. Further, it provides UltraPorator, a proprietary electroporation device; and develops research models and services for healthcare research applications. The company was formerly known as Intrexon Corporation and changed its name to Precigen, Inc. in February 2020. Precigen, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland.