Head-To-Head Survey: Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) & Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON)

Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) and Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Eton Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perrigo has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

27.9% of Eton Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Perrigo shares are held by institutional investors. 16.5% of Eton Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Perrigo shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Eton Pharmaceuticals and Perrigo, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eton Pharmaceuticals	1	1	4	0	2.50
Perrigo	1	4	1	0	2.00

Eton Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $67.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.53%. Perrigo has a consensus price target of $19.33, suggesting a potential upside of 35.29%. Given Perrigo’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Perrigo is more favorable than Eton Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Eton Pharmaceuticals and Perrigo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eton Pharmaceuticals	12.02%	40.13%	12.37%
Perrigo	-41.85%	11.25%	4.08%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eton Pharmaceuticals and Perrigo”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eton Pharmaceuticals	$79.95 million	20.19	-$4.60 million	$0.38	148.61
Perrigo	$4.25 billion	0.47	-$1.43 billion	($12.51)	-1.14

Eton Pharmaceuticals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Perrigo. Perrigo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eton Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Eton Pharmaceuticals beats Perrigo on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eton Pharmaceuticals

Eton Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on developing, acquiring, and commercializing pharmaceutical products for rare diseases. The company offers ALKINDI SPRINKLE, a replacement therapy for adrenocortical insufficiency in children under 17 years of age; Carglumic Acid for the treatment of acute and chronic hyperammonemia due to N-acetylglutamate Synthase deficiency; Betaine Anhydrous for the treatment of homocystinuria; and Nitisinone for the treatment of tyrosinemia type 1. It also provides Zeneo hydrocortisone autoinjector for the treatment of adrenal crisis. Eton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Deer Park, Illinois.

About Perrigo

Perrigo Company plc provides over-the-counter health and wellness solutions to enhance individual well-being in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Consumer Self-Care Americas and Consumer Self-Care International segments. The company develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes self-care consumer products, such as upper respiratory products, including cough suppressants, expectorants, and sinus and allergy relief; nutrition products consisting of infant formulas and nutritional beverages; digestive health products, including antacids, anti-diarrheal, and anti-heartburn; pain and sleep-aids products comprising pain relievers and fever reducers; and oral care products, which include toothbrushes, toothbrush replacement heads, floss, flossers, whitening products, and toothbrush covers. It also offers healthy lifestyle products, such as smoking cessation, well-being, and weight management products; skin care products consisting of dermatological care, scar management, lice treatment, and other products for various skin conditions; women's health products comprising feminine hygiene and contraceptives; vitamins, minerals, and supplements; rare diseases business; and other miscellaneous self-care products. The company sells its products under the Compeed, Dr. Fresh, Firefly, Good Sense, Good Start, Mederma, Nasonex, Plackers, Prevacid24HR, REACH, Rembrandt, Steripod, Opill, Solpadeine, Coldrex, Physiomer, NiQuitin, ACO, ellaOne, Compeed Stops, XLS, Arterin, Davitamon, Apiserum, Abtei, and Nicorette brands. It also offers contract manufacturing services. The company sells its products through retail drug, supermarket, and mass merchandise chains; e-commerce stores; wholesalers; pharmacies; drug and grocery retailers; and para-pharmacies. The company was formerly known as Perrigo Company and changed its name to Perrigo Company plc in December 2013. Perrigo Company plc was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.