Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) versus InspireMD (NYSE:NSPR) Critical Analysis

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) and InspireMD (NYSE:NSPR) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Edwards Lifesciences and InspireMD, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Edwards Lifesciences	0	6	17	0	2.74
InspireMD	0	0	3	0	3.00

Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus price target of $100.27, indicating a potential upside of 13.66%. InspireMD has a consensus price target of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 486.40%. Given InspireMD’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe InspireMD is more favorable than Edwards Lifesciences.

Risk and Volatility

Edwards Lifesciences has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, InspireMD has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.5% of Edwards Lifesciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.8% of InspireMD shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Edwards Lifesciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 25.0% of InspireMD shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Edwards Lifesciences and InspireMD”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Edwards Lifesciences	$6.07 billion	8.37	$1.07 billion	$1.74	50.70
InspireMD	$10.84 million	3.29	-$19.92 million	($0.64)	-1.20

Edwards Lifesciences has higher revenue and earnings than InspireMD. InspireMD 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 InspireMD’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Edwards Lifesciences	15.43%	15.68%	12.05%
InspireMD	-413.96%	-69.42%	-57.68%

Summary

Edwards Lifesciences beats InspireMD on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of aortic heart valves under the Edwards SAPIEN family of valves system; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases under the PASCAL PRECISION and Cardioband names. The company also provides surgical structural heart solutions, such as aortic surgical valve under the INSPIRIS name; INSPIRIS RESILLA aortic valve, which offers RESILIA tissue and VFit technology; KONECT RESILIA, a pre-assembled tissue valves conduit for complex combined procedures; and MITRIS RESILIA valve. In addition, it offers critical care solutions, including hemodynamic monitoring systems to measure a patient’s heart function and fluid status in surgical and intensive care settings under the FloTrac, Acumen IQ sensors, ClearSight, Acumen IQ cuffs, and ForeSight names; HemoSphere, a monitoring platform that displays physiological information; and Acumen Hypotension Prediction Index software that alerts clinicians in advance of a patient developing dangerously low blood pressure. The company distributes its products through a direct sales force and independent distributors. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

About InspireMD

InspireMD, Inc., a medical device company, focuses on the development and commercialization of MicroNet stent platform technology for the treatment of vascular and coronary diseases in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. The company offers CGuard carotid embolic prevention system (EPS) for use in carotid artery applications; CGuard Prime Stent System, a mesh-covered self-expanding carotid stent; and SwitchGuard NPS, a non-invasive transcarotid artery revascularization device; as well as treating acute stroke with tandem lesions. InspireMD, Inc. has a strategic agreement with Jacobs Institute to execute an early feasibility study of CGuard Prime for the treatment of acute stroke patients with tandem lesions. The company sells its products through local distribution partners. InspireMD, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.