West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) and OraSure Technologies (NASDAQ:OSUR) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
92.6% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of OraSure Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of West Pharmaceutical Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of OraSure Technologies 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 Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for West Pharmaceutical Services and OraSure Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
West Pharmaceutical Services | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
OraSure Technologies | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.67 |
West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus target price of $310.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.51%. OraSure Technologies has a consensus target price of $17.50, suggesting a potential upside of 69.25%. Given OraSure Technologies' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe OraSure Technologies is more favorable than West Pharmaceutical Services.
Profitability
This table compares West Pharmaceutical Services and OraSure Technologies' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
West Pharmaceutical Services | 14.69% | 19.01% | 12.78% |
OraSure Technologies | -9.05% | -3.51% | -3.13% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares West Pharmaceutical Services and OraSure Technologies' gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
West Pharmaceutical Services | $1.84 billion | 12.14 | $241.70 million | $3.24 | 93.39 |
OraSure Technologies | $154.60 million | 4.80 | $16.66 million | $0.13 | 79.38 |
West Pharmaceutical Services has higher revenue and earnings than OraSure Technologies. OraSure Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than West Pharmaceutical Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
West Pharmaceutical Services has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OraSure Technologies has a beta of 0.04, meaning that its stock price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
West Pharmaceutical Services beats OraSure Technologies on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.