Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN – Get Free Report) and Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Qiagen and Mettler-Toledo International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Qiagen | 19.49% | 14.47% | 8.34% |
| Mettler-Toledo International | 21.91% | -1,212.14% | 25.11% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Qiagen and Mettler-Toledo International”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Qiagen | $2.10 billion | 4.37 | $424.88 million | $1.95 | 22.84 |
| Mettler-Toledo International | $4.03 billion | 7.60 | $869.19 million | $44.43 | 34.38 |
Mettler-Toledo International has higher revenue and earnings than Qiagen. Qiagen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mettler-Toledo International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Qiagen and Mettler-Toledo International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Qiagen | 0 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2.43 |
| Mettler-Toledo International | 1 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 2.27 |
Qiagen currently has a consensus price target of $43.51, suggesting a potential downside of 2.31%. Mettler-Toledo International has a consensus price target of $1,459.54, suggesting a potential downside of 4.45%. Given Qiagen’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Qiagen is more favorable than Mettler-Toledo International.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
70.0% of Qiagen shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.1% of Mettler-Toledo International shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Qiagen shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Mettler-Toledo International shares are owned by 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.
Risk & Volatility
Qiagen has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mettler-Toledo International has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Mettler-Toledo International beats Qiagen on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Qiagen
QIAGEN NV is a holding company, which engages in the provision of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. The company sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from blood, tissue, and other materials. The firm assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Its bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. The company was founded by Detlev H. Riesner and Metin Colpan on April 29, 1996, and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.
About Mettler-Toledo International
Mettler-Toledo International Inc. manufactures and supplies precision instruments and services in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through five segments: U.S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations, and Other. The company’s laboratory instruments include laboratory balances, liquid pipetting solutions, automated laboratory reactors, real-time analytics, titrators, pH meters, process analytics sensors and analyzer technologies, physical value analyzers, density and refractometry, thermal analysis systems, and other analytical instruments; and LabX, a laboratory software platform to manage and analyze data generated from its instruments. Its industrial instruments comprise industrial weighing instruments and related terminals, automatic dimensional measurement and data capture solutions, vehicle scale systems, industrial software, metal detection equipment, x-ray systems, check weighing equipment, camera-based imaging equipment, track-and-trace solutions, and product inspection systems. The company’s retail weighing solutions consist of weighing and software solutions, AI-driven image recognition solution, and automated packaging and labelling solutions for the meat backroom. It serves the life science industry, independent research organizations, and testing labs; food and beverage manufacturers; food retailers; chemical, specialty chemical, and cosmetics companies; food retailers; transportation and logistics, metals, and electronics industries; and the academic community through its direct sales force and indirect distribution channels. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.
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