Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX – Get Free Report) and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.
Risk & Volatility
Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -0.69, suggesting that its share price is 169% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Pliant Therapeutics | N/A | -48.91% | -41.09% |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | N/A | -71.78% | -53.25% |
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Pliant Therapeutics | $1.58 million | 56.59 | -$161.34 million | ($3.47) | -0.42 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | $180.13 million | 36.98 | -$373.63 million | ($22.11) | -13.64 |
Pliant Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Madrigal Pharmaceuticals. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pliant Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.8% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals 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 summary of recent ratings for Pliant Therapeutics and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Pliant Therapeutics | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2.80 |
Pliant Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $13.31, suggesting a potential upside of 811.82%. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $378.44, suggesting a potential upside of 25.45%. Given Pliant Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pliant Therapeutics is more favorable than Madrigal Pharmaceuticals.
Summary
Pliant Therapeutics beats Madrigal Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Pliant Therapeutics
Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis. It also develops PLN-1474, an oral, small-molecule selective inhibitor of avß1 for the treatment of liver fibrosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; PLN-101095, a dual inhibitor of integrins avß8 and avß1 for the treatment of solid tumors; and PLN-101325 for treatment of muscular dystrophies. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in South San Francisco, California.
About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutics for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the United States. Its lead product candidate is resmetirom, a liver-directed thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for treating NASH. The company is headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Receive News & Ratings for Pliant Therapeutics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pliant Therapeutics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
