LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT – Get Free Report) and STERIS (NYSE:STE – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for LeMaitre Vascular and STERIS, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| LeMaitre Vascular | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2.44 |
| STERIS | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
LeMaitre Vascular currently has a consensus price target of $110.60, indicating a potential upside of 30.97%. STERIS has a consensus price target of $271.33, indicating a potential upside of 16.82%. Given LeMaitre Vascular’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe LeMaitre Vascular is more favorable than STERIS.
Risk and Volatility
LeMaitre Vascular has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, STERIS has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares LeMaitre Vascular and STERIS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| LeMaitre Vascular | 25.02% | 15.63% | 10.06% |
| STERIS | 13.34% | 14.34% | 9.66% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares LeMaitre Vascular and STERIS”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| LeMaitre Vascular | $249.60 million | 7.74 | $57.73 million | $2.85 | 29.63 |
| STERIS | $5.94 billion | 3.82 | $782.30 million | $8.18 | 28.39 |
STERIS has higher revenue and earnings than LeMaitre Vascular. STERIS is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LeMaitre Vascular, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
84.6% of LeMaitre Vascular shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.7% of STERIS shares are held by institutional investors. 7.4% of LeMaitre Vascular shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of STERIS shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
LeMaitre Vascular pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. STERIS pays an annual dividend of $2.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. LeMaitre Vascular pays out 35.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. STERIS pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. LeMaitre Vascular has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and STERIS has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. STERIS is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
STERIS beats LeMaitre Vascular on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About LeMaitre Vascular
LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices and implants used in the field of vascular surgery worldwide. It offers human cadaver tissue cryopreservation services; angioscope, a fiberoptic catheter used for viewing the lumen of a blood vessel; embolectomy catheters to remove blood clots from arteries; thrombectomy catheters for removing thrombi in the venous system; occlusion catheters that temporarily occlude the blood flow; and perfusion catheters to perfuse the blood and other fluids into the vasculature. The company also provides artegraft biologic graft, a bovine carotid artery used for dialysis access; XenoSure biologic patches, used for closure of vessels after surgical intervention; VascuCel and CardioCel biologic patches, used in vessel repair, heart repair and reconstruction, and neonatal repairs; cardiovascular patches; carotid shunts that temporarily shunt the blood to the brain during the removal of plaque in a carotid endarterectomy surgery; biosynthetic vascular graft indicated for lower extremity bypass and dialysis access; and vascular grafts used to bypass or replace diseased arteries. In addition, it offers radiopaque tape, a medical-grade tape applied to the skin that enables surgeons and interventionalists to cross-refer between the inside and the outside of a patient’s body and allows them to locate tributaries or lesions beneath the skin. Further, the company provides valvulotomes, which cut or disrupt valves in the saphenous vein to function as an artery to carry blood past diseased arteries to the lower leg or the foot; and closure systems to attach vessels to one another with titanium clips instead of sutures. It markets its products through a direct sales force and distributors. The company was formerly known as Vascutech, Inc. and changed its name to LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. in April 2001. LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.
About STERIS
STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services. It also provides capital equipment installation, maintenance, upgradation, repair, and troubleshooting services; preventive maintenance programs and repair services; instrument and endoscope repair and maintenance services; and custom process improvement consulting and outsourced instrument sterile processing services. The Applied Sterilization Technologies segment provides contract sterilization and testing services for medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers through a network of approximately 50 contract sterilization and laboratory facilities. The Life Sciences segment designs, manufactures and sells consumable products, such as formulated cleaning chemistries, barrier, sterility assurance products, steam and vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilizers, and washer disinfectors. This segment also offers equipment installation, maintenance, upgradation, repair, and troubleshooting services; and preventive maintenance programs and repair services. The Dental segment provides hand and electric-powered dental instruments, infection control products, conscious sedation, personal protective equipment, and water quality products for dental suite. The company serves its products and services to hospitals, other healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.
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