Invacare (NYSE:IVC) and Milestone Scientific (NYSEAMERICAN:MLSS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and risk.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Invacare and Milestone Scientific's top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Invacare | $927.96 million | 0.34 | $-53,330,000.00 | ($1.06) | -8.58 |
Milestone Scientific | $8.38 million | 27.97 | $-7,520,000.00 | ($0.16) | -23.00 |
Milestone Scientific has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Invacare. Milestone Scientific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Invacare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Invacare has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Milestone Scientific has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
96.7% of Invacare shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.6% of Milestone Scientific shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Invacare shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 27.3% of Milestone Scientific shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Invacare and Milestone Scientific's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Invacare | -4.87% | -8.76% | -3.07% |
Milestone Scientific | -165.06% | -104.43% | -67.75% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Invacare and Milestone Scientific, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Invacare | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
Milestone Scientific | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
Invacare currently has a consensus price target of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 53.85%. Milestone Scientific has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.70%. Given Invacare's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Invacare is more favorable than Milestone Scientific.
Summary
Invacare beats Milestone Scientific on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.