Critical Analysis: Haleon (NYSE:HLN) versus AdaptHealth (NASDAQ:AHCO)

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) and AdaptHealth (NASDAQ:AHCO) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

6.7% of Haleon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of AdaptHealth shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of AdaptHealth shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Haleon and AdaptHealth, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Haleon	1	2	4	2	2.78
AdaptHealth	1	1	4	0	2.50

Haleon presently has a consensus price target of $12.33, indicating a potential upside of 26.35%. AdaptHealth has a consensus price target of $13.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.64%. Given Haleon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Haleon is more favorable than AdaptHealth.

Risk & Volatility

Haleon has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AdaptHealth has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Haleon and AdaptHealth’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Haleon	N/A	N/A	N/A
AdaptHealth	-2.18%	3.42%	1.23%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Haleon and AdaptHealth”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Haleon	$14.54 billion	2.99	$2.20 billion	$0.39	25.01
AdaptHealth	$3.24 billion	0.53	-$70.79 million	($0.55)	-23.02

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

Summary

Haleon beats AdaptHealth on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Haleon

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands. It also offers various over-the-counter products comprising nasal drops, and cold, flu, and allergy relief products under Otrivine, Theraflu, and Flonase brands for respiratory issues; anti-inflammatory and pain relief products under Voltaren, Panadol, and Advil brands; and antacids and antihistamine products under TUMS, ENO, and Fenistil brands for digestive health and other issues. The company was formerly known as DRVW 2022 plc and changed its name to Haleon plc in February 2022. Haleon plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Weybridge, the United Kingdom.

About AdaptHealth

AdaptHealth Corp., together with its subsidiaries, sells home medical equipment (HME), medical supplies, and home and related services in the United States. The company provides sleep therapy equipment, supplies, and related services, such as CPAP and bi-PAP services to individuals suffering from obstructive sleep apnea; medical devices and supplies, including continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps for the treatment of diabetes; HME to patients discharged from acute care and other facilities; oxygen and related chronic therapy services in the home; and other HME devices and supplies on behalf of chronically ill patients with wound care, urological, incontinence, ostomy, and nutritional supply needs. It also offers wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, CPAP masks and related supplies, wound care supplies, diabetes management supplies, wheelchair cushion accessories, orthopedic bracing, breast pumps and supplies, walkers, commodes and canes, and nutritional and incontinence supplies. The company services beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance payors. The company is headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.