Financial Contrast: Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) & IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX)

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD) and IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Mettler-Toledo International and IDEXX Laboratories”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mettler-Toledo International	$4.03 billion	5.54	$869.19 million	$42.64	25.91
IDEXX Laboratories	$4.45 billion	9.92	$1.06 billion	$13.58	41.19

IDEXX Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Mettler-Toledo International. Mettler-Toledo International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IDEXX Laboratories, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Mettler-Toledo International and IDEXX Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mettler-Toledo International	21.40%	-622.80%	24.97%
IDEXX Laboratories	24.63%	70.87%	32.56%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Mettler-Toledo International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.8% of IDEXX Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Mettler-Toledo International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of IDEXX Laboratories shares are owned 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.

Volatility and Risk

Mettler-Toledo International has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IDEXX Laboratories has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its stock price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Mettler-Toledo International and IDEXX Laboratories, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mettler-Toledo International	0	6	6	0	2.50
IDEXX Laboratories	0	4	7	0	2.64

Mettler-Toledo International currently has a consensus price target of $1,408.55, suggesting a potential upside of 27.51%. IDEXX Laboratories has a consensus price target of $751.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.26%. Given IDEXX Laboratories’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe IDEXX Laboratories is more favorable than Mettler-Toledo International.

Summary

IDEXX Laboratories beats Mettler-Toledo International on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About IDEXX Laboratories

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes products primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Companion Animal Group; Water Quality Products; and Livestock, Poultry and Dairy. It also provides point-of-care veterinary diagnostic products, including instruments, consumables, and rapid assay test kits; veterinary reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services; practice management and diagnostic imaging systems and services for veterinarians; and health monitoring, biological materials testing, and laboratory diagnostic instruments, and services for biomedical research community. In addition, the company offers diagnostic and health-monitoring products for livestock, poultry, and dairy; products that test water for various microbiological contaminants; point-of-care electrolytes and blood gas analyzers; in-clinic chemistry, blood and urine chemistry, hematology, immunoassay, urinalysis, and coagulation analyzers; and SNAP rapid assays test kits. Further, it provides Colilert, Colilert-18, and Colisure tests, which detect the presence of total coliforms and E. coli in water; Enterolert, Pseudalert, Filta-Max and Filta-Max xpress, Legiolert, and Quanti-Tray products; and veterinary software and services for independent veterinary clinics and corporate groups. Additionally, the company offers human medical point-of-care products and laboratory diagnostics services. The company markets its products through marketing, customer service, sales, and technical service groups, as well as through independent distributors and other resellers. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Westbrook, Maine.