Henry Schein (HSIC) Competitors

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) and Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and valuation.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in PDCO or HSIC?

85.4% of Patterson Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.6% of Henry Schein shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Patterson Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Henry Schein shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, PDCO or HSIC?

Patterson Companies has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Henry Schein has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer PDCO or HSIC?

In the previous week, Henry Schein had 1 more articles in the media than Patterson Companies. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Henry Schein and 1 mentions for Patterson Companies. Henry Schein's average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat Patterson Companies' score of 0.40 indicating that Henry Schein is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Patterson Companies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Henry Schein	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is PDCO or HSIC more profitable?

Henry Schein has a net margin of 3.21% compared to Patterson Companies' net margin of 2.37%. Patterson Companies' return on equity of 19.77% beat Henry Schein's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Patterson Companies	2.37%	19.77%	6.66%
Henry Schein	3.21%	14.87%	5.82%

Do analysts recommend PDCO or HSIC?

Patterson Companies presently has a consensus target price of $26.57, indicating a potential downside of 15.19%. Henry Schein has a consensus target price of $79.30, indicating a potential upside of 8.93%. Given Henry Schein's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Henry Schein is more favorable than Patterson Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Patterson Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.09
Henry Schein	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Which has better earnings & valuation, PDCO or HSIC?

Henry Schein has higher revenue and earnings than Patterson Companies. Patterson Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Henry Schein, 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
Patterson Companies	$6.51B	0.43	$185.93M	$1.54	20.34
Henry Schein	$12.67B	0.70	$390M	$3.20	22.75

Summary

Henry Schein beats Patterson Companies on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.