Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) and Centene (NYSE:CNC) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Intuitive Surgical and Centene's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Intuitive Surgical | $4.48 billion | 19.74 | $1.38 billion | $9.95 | 75.58 |
Centene | $74.64 billion | 0.47 | $1.32 billion | $4.42 | 13.79 |
Intuitive Surgical has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Centene. Centene is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
86.5% of Intuitive Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.5% of Centene shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Centene shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Intuitive Surgical and Centene, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Intuitive Surgical | 3 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2.33 |
Centene | 0 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 2.81 |
Intuitive Surgical currently has a consensus price target of $736.0588, indicating a potential downside of 2.12%. Centene has a consensus price target of $83.8333, indicating a potential upside of 37.59%. Given Centene's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Centene is more favorable than Intuitive Surgical.
Volatility and Risk
Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Centene has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Intuitive Surgical and Centene's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Intuitive Surgical | 24.45% | 12.08% | 10.44% |
Centene | 2.00% | 13.45% | 4.81% |
Summary
Centene beats Intuitive Surgical on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.