Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) and Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Bio-Rad Laboratories and Mettler-Toledo International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Mettler-Toledo International | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1.75 |
Bio-Rad Laboratories presently has a consensus target price of $646.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.85%. Mettler-Toledo International has a consensus target price of $868.0833, suggesting a potential downside of 17.56%. Given Bio-Rad Laboratories' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Bio-Rad Laboratories is more favorable than Mettler-Toledo International.
Profitability
This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and Mettler-Toledo International's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | 147.91% | 3.77% | 2.74% |
| Mettler-Toledo International | 19.36% | 144.89% | 21.11% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and Mettler-Toledo International's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | $2.31 billion | 7.26 | $1.76 billion | $7.06 | 79.67 |
| Mettler-Toledo International | $3.01 billion | 8.17 | $561.11 million | $22.77 | 46.14 |
Bio-Rad Laboratories has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Mettler-Toledo International. Mettler-Toledo International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bio-Rad Laboratories, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
63.0% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Mettler-Toledo International shares are held by institutional investors. 27.5% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Mettler-Toledo International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
Bio-Rad Laboratories has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mettler-Toledo International has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Mettler-Toledo International beats Bio-Rad Laboratories on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
