Financial Analysis: Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) versus PACS Group (NYSE:PACS)

PACS Group (NYSE:PACS) and Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) are both mid-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PACS Group and Guardian Pharmacy Services”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PACS Group	$5.55 billion	1.27	$191.54 million	$1.72	25.99
Guardian Pharmacy Services	$1.46 billion	1.49	$49.22 million	$1.03	42.55

PACS Group has higher revenue and earnings than Guardian Pharmacy Services. PACS Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Guardian Pharmacy Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for PACS Group and Guardian Pharmacy Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PACS Group	0	2	5	0	2.71
Guardian Pharmacy Services	0	1	8	0	2.89

PACS Group presently has a consensus price target of $58.80, indicating a potential upside of 31.53%. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a consensus price target of $43.83, indicating a potential upside of 0.01%. Given PACS Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe PACS Group is more favorable than Guardian Pharmacy Services.

Volatility & Risk

PACS Group has a beta of -0.13, meaning that its stock price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Guardian Pharmacy Services has a beta of 0.06, meaning that its stock price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares PACS Group and Guardian Pharmacy Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PACS Group	4.85%	29.55%	5.23%
Guardian Pharmacy Services	4.50%	29.97%	16.18%

Summary

Guardian Pharmacy Services beats PACS Group on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PACS Group

PACS Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities in the United States. The company also provides senior care and independent facilities. It engages in the acquisition, ownership, and leasing of health care-related properties. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Farmington, Utah.

About Guardian Pharmacy Services

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc., a pharmacy service company, provides a suite of technology-enabled services designed to help residents of long-term health care facilities (LTCFs) in the United States. Its individualized clinical, drug dispensing, and administration capabilities are used to serve the needs of residents in lower acuity LTCFs, such as assisted living facilities and behavioral health facilities and group homes. The company’s Guardian Compass includes dashboards created using data from its data warehouse to help its local pharmacies plan, track, and optimize their business operations; and GuardianShield Programs for LTCFs. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.