AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) and BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
78.4% of AxoGen shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of BioLife Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of AxoGen shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.3% of BioLife Solutions 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.
Profitability
This table compares AxoGen and BioLife Solutions' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
AxoGen | -22.98% | -19.83% | -14.88% |
BioLife Solutions | 12.67% | 0.53% | 0.43% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares AxoGen and BioLife Solutions' revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
AxoGen | $106.71 million | 7.66 | $-29,140,000.00 | ($0.68) | -29.50 |
BioLife Solutions | $27.37 million | 43.93 | $-1,660,000.00 | $0.08 | 450.00 |
BioLife Solutions has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AxoGen. AxoGen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BioLife Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for AxoGen and BioLife Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
AxoGen | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.60 |
BioLife Solutions | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.90 |
AxoGen presently has a consensus price target of $23.75, suggesting a potential upside of 18.39%. BioLife Solutions has a consensus price target of $46.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 29.63%. Given BioLife Solutions' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BioLife Solutions is more favorable than AxoGen.
Risk & Volatility
AxoGen has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioLife Solutions has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
BioLife Solutions beats AxoGen on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.