Comparing Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) and Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH)

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) and Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Bio-Techne and Medpace, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bio-Techne	1	14	2	0	2.06
Medpace	0	10	3	0	2.23

Bio-Techne presently has a consensus target price of $68.92, suggesting a potential downside of 4.70%. Medpace has a consensus target price of $584.18, suggesting a potential downside of 5.89%. Given Bio-Techne’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Bio-Techne is more favorable than Medpace.

Profitability

This table compares Bio-Techne and Medpace’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bio-Techne	14.97%	13.23%	10.61%
Medpace	17.67%	110.15%	24.84%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.0% of Bio-Techne shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of Medpace shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Bio-Techne shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of Medpace shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bio-Techne and Medpace”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bio-Techne	$1.22 billion	9.32	$181.86 million	$1.15	62.89
Medpace	$2.53 billion	6.85	$451.12 million	$17.06	36.39

Medpace has higher revenue and earnings than Bio-Techne. Medpace is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bio-Techne, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Bio-Techne has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medpace has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Medpace beats Bio-Techne on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Greater China, rest of Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Protein Sciences, and Diagnostics and Genomics. The Protein Sciences segment develops and manufactures biological reagents used in various aspects of life science research, diagnostics, and cell and gene therapy, such as cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, small molecules, tissue culture sera, and cell selection technologies. This segment also offers proteomic analytical tools for automated western blot and multiplexed ELISA workflow consists of manual and automated protein analysis instruments and immunoassays for use in quantifying proteins in various biological fluids. The Diagnostics and Genomics segment develops and manufactures diagnostic products, including controls, calibrators, and diagnostic assays for regulated diagnostics market, exosome-based molecular diagnostic assays, advanced tissue-based in-situ hybridization assays for spatial genomic and tissue biopsy analysis, and genetic and oncology kits for research and clinical applications; and sells products for genetic carrier screening, oncology diagnostics, molecular controls, and research, as well as instruments and process control products for hematology, blood chemistry and gases, and coagulation controls and reagents used in various diagnostic applications. The company was formerly known as Techne Corporation and changed its name to Bio-Techne Corporation in November 2014. Bio-Techne Corporation was incorporated in 1976 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Medpace

Medpace Holdings, Inc. engages in the provision of outsourced clinical development services to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Its services include medical department, clinical trial management, data-driven feasibility, study-start-up, clinical monitoring, regulatory affairs, patient recruitment and retention, medical writing, biometrics and data sciences, pharmacovigilance, core laboratory, laboratories, clinics, and quality assurance. The company was founded by August James Troendle in 1992 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.