Analyzing Protalix BioTherapeutics (PLX) and Its Peers

Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSE:PLX) is one of 844 publicly-traded companies in the “Biotechnology” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Protalix BioTherapeutics to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Protalix BioTherapeutics and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Protalix BioTherapeutics	0	0	1	0	3.00
Protalix BioTherapeutics Competitors	9838	15122	45436	1587	2.54

Protalix BioTherapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 372.44%. As a group, “Biotechnology” companies have a potential upside of 102.58%. Given Protalix BioTherapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Protalix BioTherapeutics is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Protalix BioTherapeutics and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Protalix BioTherapeutics	-21.03%	-30.89%	-11.74%
Protalix BioTherapeutics Competitors	-12,357.18%	-197.96%	-30.56%

Volatility and Risk

Protalix BioTherapeutics has a beta of 0.01, indicating that its share price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Protalix BioTherapeutics’ competitors have a beta of 1.15, indicating that their average share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Protalix BioTherapeutics and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Protalix BioTherapeutics	$80.62 million	$8.31 million	11.04
Protalix BioTherapeutics Competitors	$733.29 million	$12.79 million	-15.19

Protalix BioTherapeutics’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Protalix BioTherapeutics. Protalix BioTherapeutics is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

16.5% of Protalix BioTherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of Protalix BioTherapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Protalix BioTherapeutics competitors beat Protalix BioTherapeutics on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Protalix BioTherapeutics

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development, production, and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins based on its proprietary ProCellEx plant cell-based protein expression system in the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, and internationally. The company offers Elelyso for the treatment of Gaucher disease; and Elfabrio for the treatment of adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease. It is also developing PRX-115, a plant cell-expressed recombinant PEGylated Uricase which is in Phase I trial for the treatment of gout; and PRX-119, a plant cell-expressed PEGylated recombinant human DNase I product candidate that is in preclinical phase for the treatment of NETs-related diseases. The company has agreements and partnerships with Pfizer; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; and Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Karmiel, Israel. Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Protalix Ltd.