Charles River Laboratories Intl. (NYSE:CRL) and National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.
Volatility & Risk
Charles River Laboratories Intl. has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Research has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Charles River Laboratories Intl. and National Research, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Charles River Laboratories Intl. | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 2.73 |
| National Research | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Charles River Laboratories Intl. presently has a consensus target price of $162.54, suggesting a potential upside of 4.66%. Given Charles River Laboratories Intl.’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Charles River Laboratories Intl. is more favorable than National Research.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Charles River Laboratories Intl. and National Research’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Charles River Laboratories Intl. | $2.27 billion | 3.35 | $226.37 million | $6.03 | 25.75 |
| National Research | $119.69 million | 14.40 | $30.05 million | N/A | N/A |
Charles River Laboratories Intl. has higher revenue and earnings than National Research.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
95.8% of Charles River Laboratories Intl. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.7% of National Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Charles River Laboratories Intl. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of National Research shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Charles River Laboratories Intl. and National Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Charles River Laboratories Intl. | 9.14% | 21.52% | 7.24% |
| National Research | 25.01% | 130.25% | 29.69% |
Summary
Charles River Laboratories Intl. beats National Research on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Charles River Laboratories Intl.
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., an early-stage contract research company, provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Support (Manufacturing). The RMS segment produces and sells research model strains primarily purpose-bred rats and mice for use by researchers. It also provides a range of services to assist its clients in supporting the use of research models in research and screening non-clinical drug candidates, including genetically engineered models and services, insourcing solutions, and research animal diagnostic services. The DSA segment offers early and in vivo discovery services for the identification of a druggable target through delivery of non-clinical drug and therapeutic candidates ready for safety assessment; and safety assessment services, such as bioanalysis, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, safety pharmacology, toxicology, and pathology services. The Manufacturing segment provides in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing of sterile and non-sterile biopharmaceuticals, and consumer products. It also offers specialized testing of biologics that are outsourced by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; and avian vaccine services that provide specific-pathogen-free fertile chicken eggs, SPF chickens, and diagnostic products used to manufacture vaccines. The company serves biopharmaceutical companies; biotechnology, agricultural and industrial chemical, life science, veterinary medicine, medical device, diagnostic, and consumer product companies; contract research and contract manufacturing organizations; other commercial entities; and hospitals, academic institutions, and government agencies. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
About National Research
National Research Corporation (NRC) is a provider of analytics and insights that facilitate revenue growth, patient, employee and customer retention and patient engagement for healthcare providers, payers and other healthcare organizations. The Company’s portfolio of subscription-based solutions provides information and analysis to healthcare organizations and payers across a range of mission-critical, constituent-related elements, including patient experience and satisfaction, community population health risks, workforce engagement, community perceptions, and physician engagement. The Company’s clients range from acute care hospitals and post-acute providers, such as home health, long term care and hospice, to numerous payer organizations. The Company derives its revenue from its annually renewable services, which include performance measurement and improvement services, healthcare analytics and governance education services.
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