Align Technology (ALGN) Competitors

STERIS (NYSE:STE) and Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Which has more volatility and risk, STE or ALGN?

STERIS has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Align Technology has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate STE or ALGN?

STERIS presently has a consensus target price of $241.60, suggesting a potential upside of 3.83%. Align Technology has a consensus target price of $353.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.02%. Given STERIS's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Align Technology is more favorable than STERIS.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
STERIS	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Align Technology	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media refer more to STE or ALGN?

In the previous week, STERIS had 7 more articles in the media than Align Technology. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for STERIS and 10 mentions for Align Technology. STERIS's average media sentiment score of 1.05 beat Align Technology's score of 0.77 indicating that Align Technology is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
STERIS	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Align Technology	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, STE or ALGN?

Align Technology has lower revenue, but higher earnings than STERIS. Align Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than STERIS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
STERIS	$5.14B	4.47	$378.24M	$3.82	60.91
Align Technology	$3.86B	5.29	$445.05M	$6.07	44.73

Do institutionals and insiders believe in STE or ALGN?

94.7% of STERIS shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.4% of Align Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of STERIS shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Align Technology shares are owned by company 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.

Is STE or ALGN more profitable?

Align Technology has a net margin of 11.80% compared to Align Technology's net margin of 6.95%. STERIS's return on equity of 14.15% beat Align Technology's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
STERIS	6.95%	13.73%	7.73%
Align Technology	11.80%	14.15%	8.49%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor STE or ALGN?

Align Technology received 441 more outperform votes than STERIS when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.64% of users gave Align Technology an outperform vote while only 58.51% of users gave STERIS an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
STERIS	Outperform Votes 323 58.51%	Underperform Votes 229 41.49%
Align Technology	Outperform Votes 764 69.64%	Underperform Votes 333 30.36%

Summary

Align Technology beats STERIS on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.