Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) and Milestone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIST) Head-To-Head Survey

Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) and Milestone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIST) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alkermes and Milestone Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alkermes	$1.66 billion	2.85	$355.76 million	$1.95	15.02
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	$1.00 million	95.35	-$59.69 million	($1.02)	-1.75

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.2% of Alkermes shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Alkermes shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.9% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Alkermes and Milestone Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alkermes	1	3	7	0	2.55
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	0	0	4	0	3.00

Alkermes presently has a consensus target price of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.49%. Milestone Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 570.39%. Given Milestone Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Milestone Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Alkermes.

Profitability

This table compares Alkermes and Milestone Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alkermes	22.15%	24.92%	14.55%
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-165.26%	-55.71%

Volatility & Risk

Alkermes has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Milestone Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Alkermes beats Milestone Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alkermes

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders. Its marketed products include ARISTADA, an intramuscular injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia; ARISTADA INITIO for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults; VIVITROL for the treatment of alcohol and prevention of opioid dependence; and LYBALVI, an oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. It has collaboration agreements primarily with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc, and Janssen Pharmaceutica International. The company also offers proprietary technology platforms to third parties to enable them to develop, commercialize, and manufacture products. Alkermes plc was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About Milestone Pharmaceuticals

Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of cardiovascular medicines. The company's lead product candidate is etripamil, a novel and potent calcium channel blocker, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in the United States and Canada; and Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and rapid ventricular rate. It has a license and collaboration agreement with Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize etripamil prophylactic and therapeutic uses in humans, as well as with the Montreal Heart Institute, the WCN network, and other research centers. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Montréal, Canada.