Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) and Becton, Dickinson and (NYSE:BDX) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
80.9% of Edwards Lifesciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.2% of Becton, Dickinson and shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Edwards Lifesciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Becton, Dickinson and shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Edwards Lifesciences and Becton, Dickinson and, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
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Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 2.48 |
Becton, Dickinson and | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2.50 |
Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus price target of $90.8704, indicating a potential upside of 3.99%. Becton, Dickinson and has a consensus price target of $281.0769, indicating a potential upside of 7.40%. Given Becton, Dickinson and's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Becton, Dickinson and is more favorable than Edwards Lifesciences.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Edwards Lifesciences and Becton, Dickinson and's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
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Edwards Lifesciences | $4.35 billion | 12.51 | $1.05 billion | $1.86 | 46.94 |
Becton, Dickinson and | $17.12 billion | 4.45 | $874 million | $10.20 | 25.69 |
Edwards Lifesciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Becton, Dickinson and. Becton, Dickinson and is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Edwards Lifesciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Edwards Lifesciences and Becton, Dickinson and's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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Edwards Lifesciences | 18.18% | 29.00% | 18.10% |
Becton, Dickinson and | 5.11% | 13.30% | 5.60% |
Volatility & Risk
Edwards Lifesciences has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Becton, Dickinson and has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Edwards Lifesciences beats Becton, Dickinson and on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.