Comparing Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) & Oscar Health (NYSE:OSCR)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyGuardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN – Get Free Report) and Oscar Health (NYSE:OSCR – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings for Guardian Pharmacy Services and Oscar Health, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Guardian Pharmacy Services | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2.89 |
| Oscar Health | 1 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2.31 |
Guardian Pharmacy Services presently has a consensus target price of $44.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.16%. Oscar Health has a consensus target price of $33.90, suggesting a potential upside of 10.62%. Given Oscar Health’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Oscar Health is more favorable than Guardian Pharmacy Services.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Guardian Pharmacy Services and Oscar Health”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Guardian Pharmacy Services | $1.45 billion | 1.53 | $49.22 million | $1.03 | 43.27 |
| Oscar Health | $11.70 billion | 0.81 | -$443.15 million | $1.40 | 21.89 |
Guardian Pharmacy Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Oscar Health. Oscar Health 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.
Profitability
This table compares Guardian Pharmacy Services and Oscar Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Guardian Pharmacy Services | 4.50% | 29.97% | 16.18% |
| Oscar Health | 3.60% | 38.45% | 6.76% |
Risk & Volatility
Guardian Pharmacy Services has a beta of 0.06, suggesting that its share price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oscar Health has a beta of 2.37, suggesting that its share price is 137% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
75.7% of Oscar Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.0% of Guardian Pharmacy Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.6% of Oscar Health shares are owned by 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.
Summary
Guardian Pharmacy Services beats Oscar Health on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Oscar Health
Oscar Health, Inc. operates as a health insurance in the United States. The company offers health plans in individual and small group markets, as well as +Oscar, a technology driven platform that help providers and payors directly enable their shift to value-based care. It also provides reinsurance products. The company was formerly known as Mulberry Health Inc. and changed its name to Oscar Health, Inc. in January 2021. Oscar Health, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.