Comparing Zealand Pharma A/S (OTCMKTS:ZLDPF) & Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN)

Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN) and Zealand Pharma A/S (OTCMKTS:ZLDPF) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Amarin has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zealand Pharma A/S has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.3% of Amarin shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Amarin shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Amarin and Zealand Pharma A/S”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amarin	$213.65 million	1.49	-$38.80 million	($0.09)	-170.44
Zealand Pharma A/S	$1.40 billion	2.09	$977.39 million	$13.68	3.00

Zealand Pharma A/S has higher revenue and earnings than Amarin. Amarin is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zealand Pharma A/S, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Amarin and Zealand Pharma A/S, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amarin	2	1	0	0	1.33
Zealand Pharma A/S	0	5	0	3	2.75

Amarin presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential downside of 21.77%. Given Amarin’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Amarin is more favorable than Zealand Pharma A/S.

Profitability

This table compares Amarin and Zealand Pharma A/S’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amarin	-18.16%	-5.46%	-3.81%
Zealand Pharma A/S	70.06%	49.76%	45.11%

Summary

Zealand Pharma A/S beats Amarin on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amarin

Amarin Corporation plc, a pharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the United States, European countries, Canada, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. The company offers VASCEPA, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid product, used as an adjunct to diet for reducing triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia. It sells its products principally to wholesalers and specialty pharmacy providers. The company has a collaboration with Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to develop and commercialize drug products and indications based on the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Vascepa. The company was formerly known as Ethical Holdings plc and changed its name to Amarin Corporation plc in 1999. Amarin Corporation plc was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About Zealand Pharma A/S

Zealand Pharma A/S, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of peptide-based medicines in Denmark. It has a portfolio of medicines focusing on gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, and other specialty disease areas with unmet medical needs. The company offers Dasiglucagon, a single use syringe or autoinjector for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; and Dasiglucagon bi-hormone artificial pancreas systems containing insulin and dasiglucagon. Its pipeline includes Dasiglucagon that is in Phase III clinical trials for treating congenital hyperinsulinism. The company is also developing glepaglutide, a long acting GLP-2 analog, which is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of short bowel syndrome. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Søborg, Denmark.