Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Free Report) and Avantor (NYSE:AVTR – Get Free Report) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.
Risk & Volatility
Agilent Technologies has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avantor has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Agilent Technologies and Avantor, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Agilent Technologies | 0 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 2.82 |
| Avantor | 1 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2.06 |
Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $181.45, suggesting a potential upside of 2.41%. Avantor has a consensus target price of $14.77, suggesting a potential downside of 6.33%. Given Agilent Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Agilent Technologies is more favorable than Avantor.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
87.4% of Agilent Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.1% of Avantor shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Agilent Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Avantor shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Agilent Technologies and Avantor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Agilent Technologies | 19.53% | 24.45% | 13.09% |
| Avantor | 5.08% | 9.79% | 4.74% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Agilent Technologies and Avantor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Agilent Technologies | $7.37 billion | 6.78 | $1.30 billion | $5.08 | 34.88 |
| Avantor | $6.55 billion | 1.63 | -$530.20 million | $0.50 | 31.53 |
Agilent Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Avantor. Avantor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Agilent Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Agilent Technologies beats Avantor on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies develops and supplies instruments, software, services and consumables used in laboratories and manufacturing operations. Its offerings support applications in life sciences, diagnostics, chemical analysis, food safety, environmental testing and pharmaceutical research. The company serves customers worldwide, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical and academic laboratories, and organizations in the chemical, energy and food industries. Its services include laboratory equipment maintenance, technical support and related workflow solutions.
About Avantor
Avantor, Inc. is a global provider of products and services used in life sciences, advanced technology and applied materials. Its customers include biopharmaceutical and healthcare companies, laboratories, universities and manufacturers. The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables and equipment, as well as materials used in biopharmaceutical production. Avantor also provides services such as procurement, inventory management and support for laboratory and production operations.
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