Head-To-Head Comparison: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) vs. Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN)

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) and Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Quest Diagnostics has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exagen has a beta of 2.25, indicating that its stock price is 125% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.1% of Quest Diagnostics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Exagen shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Quest Diagnostics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Exagen shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Quest Diagnostics and Exagen”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quest Diagnostics	$11.04 billion	2.54	$992.00 million	$10.04	25.36
Exagen	$71.12 million	2.38	-$19.95 million	($0.81)	-8.63

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

Profitability

This table compares Quest Diagnostics and Exagen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quest Diagnostics	9.53%	16.21%	7.41%
Exagen	-26.61%	-104.46%	-28.93%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Quest Diagnostics and Exagen, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quest Diagnostics	0	5	3	1	2.56
Exagen	1	0	7	1	2.89

Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus target price of $248.70, suggesting a potential downside of 2.33%. Exagen has a consensus target price of $10.12, suggesting a potential upside of 44.81%. Given Exagen’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Exagen is more favorable than Quest Diagnostics.

Summary

Quest Diagnostics beats Exagen on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services. It offers diagnostic information services primarily under the Quest Diagnostics brand, as well as under the AmeriPath, Dermpath Diagnostics, ExamOne, and Quanum brands to physicians, hospitals, patients and consumers, health plans, government agencies, employers, retailers, pharmaceutical companies and insurers, and accountable care organizations through a network of laboratories, patient service centers, phlebotomists in physician offices, call centers and mobile phlebotomists, nurses, and other health and wellness professionals. The company also provides risk assessment services for the life insurance industry; and healthcare organizations and clinicians information technology solutions. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.

About Exagen

Exagen Inc. develops and commercializes various testing products under the AVISE brand in the United States. The company enables healthcare providers to care for patients through the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Its lead testing product is AVISE CTD that enables differential diagnosis for patients presenting with symptoms indicative of various connective tissue diseases (CTDs) and other related diseases with overlapping symptoms. The company offers AVISE Lupus that measures activation of the complement system by quantifying the level of B-cell C4d and erythrocyte bound C4d in the patient's blood; and AVISE APS, which consists of a panel of autoantibody tests that aids in the diagnosis and management of APS. In addition, it provides AVISE Vasculitis AAV, which utilizes a testing panel of individual analytes to provide physicians with results in the assessment and monitoring of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis; AVISE SLE Prognostic, a panel of autoantibodies for assessing the potential for complications affecting the kidney, brain, and cardiovascular system; and AVISE Anti-CarP test, which identifies RA patients with severe disease. Further, the company offers AVISE SLE Monitor, a biomarker blood test; AVISE MTX, a patented and validated blood test; and AVISE HCQ, a blood test to monitor levels of hydroxychloroquine. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Research Institute to develop novel patented biomarkers. The company was formerly known as Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. and changed its name to Exagen Inc. in January 2019. Exagen Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Vista, California.