Critical Survey: Mirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIRM) versus United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyMirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIRM – Get Free Report) and United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Mirum Pharmaceuticals and United Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Mirum Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 2.93 |
| United Therapeutics | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 2.73 |
Mirum Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $148.19, suggesting a potential upside of 84.34%. United Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $650.43, suggesting a potential upside of 10.71%. Given Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mirum Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than United Therapeutics.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Mirum Pharmaceuticals and United Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Mirum Pharmaceuticals | $521.31 million | 10.01 | -$23.36 million | ($14.55) | -5.53 |
| United Therapeutics | $3.18 billion | 7.92 | $1.33 billion | $27.95 | 21.02 |
United Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Mirum Pharmaceuticals. Mirum Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Mirum Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Therapeutics has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
94.1% of United Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of Mirum Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of United Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Mirum Pharmaceuticals and United Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Mirum Pharmaceuticals | -139.18% | -36.28% | -8.54% |
| United Therapeutics | 41.56% | 20.18% | 17.98% |
Summary
United Therapeutics beats Mirum Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Mirum Pharmaceuticals
Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for debilitating rare and orphan diseases. Its lead product candidate is LIVMARLI (maralixibat), an orally administered and minimally absorbed ileal bile acid transporter (IBAT) inhibitor that is approved for the treatment of cholestatic pruritus in patients with Alagille syndrome in the United States and internationally. The company is also involved in the commercialization of Cholbam, a cholic acid capsule, which is approved as treatment for pediatric and adult patients with bile acid synthesis disorders due to single enzyme defects and for adjunctive treatment of patients with peroxisomal disorders, including peroxisome biogenesis disorder-Zellweger spectrum disorder and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome; and Chenodal, a tablet, which is approved for the treatment of radiolucent stones in the gallbladder, and under Phase 3 development for the treatment cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis. In addition, it develops Volixibat, an oral and minimally absorbed agent designed to inhibit IBAT, currently under Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of adult patients with cholestatic liver diseases. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.
About United Therapeutics
United Therapeutics Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases in the United States and internationally. The company offers Tyvaso DPI, an inhaled dry powder via pre-filled and single-use cartridges; Tyvaso, an inhaled solution via ultrasonic nebulizer; Remodulin (treprostinil) injection to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to diminish symptoms associated with exercise; Orenitram, a tablet dosage form of treprostinil, to delay disease progression and improve exercise capacity in PAH patients; and Adcirca, an oral PDE-5 inhibitor to enhance the exercise ability in PAH patients. It also markets and sells Unituxin (dinutuximab) injection, a monoclonal antibody for treating high-risk neuroblastoma; and Remunity Pump, which contains a pump and separate controller for Remodulin. In addition, the company engages in developing RemoPro and Ralinepag for the treatment of PAH; Aurora-GT, a gene therapy product to rebuild the blood vessels in the lungs; and Nebulized Tyvaso, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, as well as xenografts, which are development-stage organ products. It has licensing and collaboration agreements with DEKA Research & Development Corp. to develop a semi-disposable system for the subcutaneous delivery of treprostinil; MannKind Corporation to develop and license treprostinil inhalation powder and the Dreamboat device; and Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop Ralinepag. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.