CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) vs. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Head-To-Head Review

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) and CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) are both mid-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.6% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.2% of CRISPR Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of CRISPR Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals	1	3	10	1	2.73
CRISPR Therapeutics	1	7	9	2	2.63

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $99.07, suggesting a potential upside of 63.78%. CRISPR Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $65.75, suggesting a potential upside of 21.18%. Given Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than CRISPR Therapeutics.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals	$829.45 million	10.27	-$1.63 million	($2.25)	-26.88
CRISPR Therapeutics	$11.00 million	476.96	-$581.60 million	($4.76)	-11.40

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

Risk & Volatility

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CRISPR Therapeutics has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals	-47.79%	-60.06%	-17.37%
CRISPR Therapeutics	-3,368.72%	-24.39%	-18.25%

Summary

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals beats CRISPR Therapeutics on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. develops medicines for the treatment of intractable diseases in the United States. The company's products in pipeline includes Plozasiran, which is in Phase 2b and one Phase 3 clinical trial to treat hypertriglyceridemia, mixed dyslipidemia, and chylomicronemia syndrome; Zodasiran that is in Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia; ARO-PNPLA3, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; ARO-RAGE that is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat inflammatory pulmonary conditions; and ARO-MUC5AC, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat muco-obstructive pulmonary diseases. It also develops ARO-MMP7 that is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; ARO-DUX4 for the treatment of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy; ARO-SOD1 for the potential treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and ARO-C3, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial for the treatment of patients with various complement mediated or complement associated renal diseases. In addition, the company is involved in the development of JNJ-3989, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat chronic hepatitis B virus infection; Olpasiran that is in Phase 3 clinical trial to reduce the production of apolipoprotein A; GSK-4532990 that is in phase 2 clinical trial to treat liver diseases; HZN-457, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to treat uncontrolled gout; and Fazirsiran that is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment for liver disease associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has license and research collaboration agreements with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Horizon Therapeutics Ireland DAC; Amgen Inc.; and Glaxosmithkline Intellectual Property (No. 3) Limited. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

CRISPR Therapeutics is a gene-editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary gene-editing technology that allows for precise, directed changes to genomic DNA. CRISPR Therapeutics has established a portfolio of therapeutic programs across a broad range of disease areas including hemoglobinopathies, oncology, regenerative medicine and rare diseases. To accelerate and expand its efforts, CRISPR Therapeutics has established strategic collaborations with companies including Bayer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and ViaCyte, Inc. CRISPR Therapeutics AG is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., and R&D operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and business offices in San Francisco, California and London, United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.crisprtx.com.