STERIS (STE) Competitors

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) and STERIS (NYSE:STE) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, community ranking, media sentiment and dividends.

Do analysts recommend BDX or STE?

Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus price target of $231.44, suggesting a potential upside of 33.59%. STERIS has a consensus price target of $264.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.19%. Given Becton, Dickinson and Company's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Becton, Dickinson and Company is more favorable than STERIS.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Becton, Dickinson and Company	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.45
STERIS	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Do institutionals & insiders believe in BDX or STE?

87.0% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.7% of STERIS shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of STERIS shares are held 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BDX or STE?

Becton, Dickinson and Company received 263 more outperform votes than STERIS when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.09% of users gave Becton, Dickinson and Company an outperform vote while only 59.34% of users gave STERIS an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Becton, Dickinson and Company	Outperform Votes 606 62.09%	Underperform Votes 370 37.91%
STERIS	Outperform Votes 343 59.34%	Underperform Votes 235 40.66%

Which has more risk and volatility, BDX or STE?

Becton, Dickinson and Company has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, STERIS has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BDX or STE a better dividend stock?

Becton, Dickinson and Company pays an annual dividend of $4.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. STERIS pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Becton, Dickinson and Company pays out 79.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. STERIS pays out 36.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Becton, Dickinson and Company has raised its dividend for 53 consecutive years and STERIS has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Becton, Dickinson and Company is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, BDX or STE?

Becton, Dickinson and Company has higher revenue and earnings than STERIS. Becton, Dickinson and Company is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than STERIS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Becton, Dickinson and Company	$20.87B	2.38	$1.71B	$5.24	33.06
STERIS	$5.46B	4.43	$378.24M	$6.20	39.72

Is BDX or STE more profitable?

STERIS has a net margin of 8.66% compared to Becton, Dickinson and Company's net margin of 8.47%. Becton, Dickinson and Company's return on equity of 15.74% beat STERIS's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Becton, Dickinson and Company	8.47%	15.74%	7.29%
STERIS	8.66%	13.91%	8.64%

Does the media favor BDX or STE?

In the previous week, Becton, Dickinson and Company had 4 more articles in the media than STERIS. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Becton, Dickinson and Company and 31 mentions for STERIS. Becton, Dickinson and Company's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat STERIS's score of 0.98 indicating that Becton, Dickinson and Company is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Becton, Dickinson and Company	29 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
STERIS	14 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Becton, Dickinson and Company and STERIS tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.