Head to Head Comparison: Auna (NYSE:AUNA) versus Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR)

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) and Auna (NYSE:AUNA) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Icon and Auna”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Icon	$8.28 billion	1.78	$791.47 million	$7.39	24.69
Auna	$1.17 billion	0.29	$29.39 million	$0.71	6.45

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Icon and Auna, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Icon	0	11	8	2	2.57
Auna	1	4	0	0	1.80

Icon currently has a consensus target price of $205.31, indicating a potential upside of 12.53%. Auna has a consensus target price of $6.95, indicating a potential upside of 51.78%. Given Auna’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Auna is more favorable than Icon.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.6% of Icon shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.0% of Icon shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Icon and Auna’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Icon	7.40%	10.58%	6.01%
Auna	4.40%	13.52%	3.27%

Volatility and Risk

Icon has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Auna has a beta of 2.35, meaning that its stock price is 135% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Icon beats Auna on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Icon

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. It also offers clinical development services, including all phases of development, peri and post approval, data solutions, and site and patient access services; clinical trial management, consulting, and contract staffing services; and commercial services comprising clinical development strategy, planning and trial design, full study execution, and post-market commercialization. In addition, the company provides laboratory services, including bionanalytical, biomarker, vaccine, good manufacturing practice, and central laboratory services, as well as full-service and functional service partnerships to customers. Further, it offers adaptive trials, cardiac safety solutions, clinical and scientific operations, consulting and advisory, commercial positioning, decentralized and hybrid clinical trials, early clinical, laboratories, language services, medical imaging, real world intelligence, site and patient, and strategic solutions. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, as well as government and public health organizations. ICON Public Limited Company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About Auna

Auna S.A., a healthcare service provider, operates hospitals and clinics in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The company provides prepaid healthcare plans in Peru; and dental and vision plans in Mexico. The company was founded in 1989 and is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.