Helius Medical Technologies (NASDAQ:HSDT) and Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Helius Medical Technologies and Varian Medical Systems' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Helius Medical Technologies | -2,716.85% | -328.07% | -201.87% |
Varian Medical Systems | 8.50% | 18.45% | 8.08% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
87.0% of Varian Medical Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.4% of Helius Medical Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Varian Medical Systems shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Helius Medical Technologies and Varian Medical Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Helius Medical Technologies | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
Varian Medical Systems | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.63 |
Helius Medical Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.34%. Varian Medical Systems has a consensus target price of $159.3571, suggesting a potential downside of 10.00%. Given Helius Medical Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Helius Medical Technologies is more favorable than Varian Medical Systems.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Helius Medical Technologies and Varian Medical Systems' top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Helius Medical Technologies | $1.50 million | 26.04 | $-9,780,000.00 | ($12.94) | -1.31 |
Varian Medical Systems | $3.17 billion | 5.13 | $269.20 million | $3.91 | 45.29 |
Varian Medical Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Helius Medical Technologies. Helius Medical Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Varian Medical Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Helius Medical Technologies has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Varian Medical Systems has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Varian Medical Systems beats Helius Medical Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.