Critical Comparison: BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) versus Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) and BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Qiagen has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioLife Solutions has a beta of 1.93, meaning that its share price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Qiagen and BioLife Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Qiagen	$2.09 billion	4.25	$424.88 million	$1.95	22.09
BioLife Solutions	$106.69 million	16.66	-$4.59 million	$1.16	31.36

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.0% of Qiagen shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 9.0% of Qiagen shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of BioLife Solutions 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.

Profitability

This table compares Qiagen and BioLife Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Qiagen	19.49%	14.47%	8.34%
BioLife Solutions	53.29%	2.70%	2.49%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Qiagen and BioLife Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Qiagen	0	9	4	1	2.43
BioLife Solutions	1	8	1	1	2.18

Qiagen presently has a consensus price target of $43.93, suggesting a potential upside of 1.96%. BioLife Solutions has a consensus price target of $31.38, suggesting a potential downside of 13.76%. Given Qiagen’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Qiagen is more favorable than BioLife Solutions.

Summary

Qiagen beats BioLife Solutions on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Qiagen

QIAGEN NV is a holding company, which engages in the provision of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. The company sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from blood, tissue, and other materials. The firm assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Its bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. The company was founded by Detlev H. Riesner and Metin Colpan on April 29, 1996, and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.

About BioLife Solutions

BioLife Solutions, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company’s products are used in the basic and applied research, and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies. It offers proprietary biopreservation media products, including HypoThermosol FRS and CryoStor Freeze Media that are formulated to mitigate preservation-induced, delayed-onset cell damage and death; bioproduction tools, such as human platelet lysates for cell expansion and CellSeal closed system vials that are used in CGT; and the ThawSTAR line that comprises of a family of automated thawing devices for frozen cell and gene therapies packaged in cryovials and cryobags. The company also provides cryogenic freezer technology for controlled rate freezing and cryogenic storage of biologic materials; ultra-low temperature mechanical freezers; evo shipping containers that are cloud-connected passive storage and transport containers for temperature-sensitive biologics and pharmaceuticals; liquid nitrogen laboratory freezers, cryogenic equipment, and accessories; and biological and pharmaceutical storage and transport services. It markets and sells its products directly, as well as through third party distributors. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.