BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) and Natus Medical (NASDAQ:NTUS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares BioLife Solutions and Natus Medical's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
BioLife Solutions | 12.67% | 0.53% | 0.43% |
Natus Medical | -4.33% | 3.87% | 2.50% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for BioLife Solutions and Natus Medical, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
BioLife Solutions | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.90 |
Natus Medical | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
BioLife Solutions presently has a consensus price target of $46.6667, indicating a potential upside of 49.05%. Given BioLife Solutions' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BioLife Solutions is more favorable than Natus Medical.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares BioLife Solutions and Natus Medical's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
BioLife Solutions | $27.37 million | 38.59 | $-1,660,000.00 | $0.08 | 395.25 |
Natus Medical | $495.52 million | 1.85 | $-15,670,000.00 | $1.24 | 21.84 |
BioLife Solutions has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Natus Medical. Natus Medical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BioLife Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
67.7% of BioLife Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Natus Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 22.3% of BioLife Solutions shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Natus Medical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
BioLife Solutions has a beta of 1.55, indicating that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natus Medical has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
BioLife Solutions beats Natus Medical on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.