Financial Contrast: Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) and Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC)

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) and Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Embecta and Natera”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Embecta	$1.04 billion	0.20	$95.40 million	$1.90	1.87
Natera	$2.31 billion	13.27	-$208.16 million	($1.53)	-140.58

Embecta has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Natera. Natera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Embecta, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Embecta has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natera has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its share price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.8% of Embecta shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.9% of Natera shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Embecta shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Natera shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Embecta and Natera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Embecta	10.73%	-23.96%	14.12%
Natera	-9.03%	-15.28%	-10.80%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Embecta and Natera, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Embecta	0	4	0	0	2.00
Natera	1	3	14	1	2.79

Embecta currently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 321.35%. Natera has a consensus target price of $253.47, indicating a potential upside of 17.84%. Given Embecta’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Embecta is more favorable than Natera.

Summary

Natera beats Embecta on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Embecta

Embecta Corp., a medical device company, focuses on the provision of various solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes. Its products include pen needles, syringes, and safety injection devices, as well as digital applications to assist people with managing patient's diabetes. The company primarily sells its products to wholesalers and distributors in the United States and internationally. Embecta Corp. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

About Natera

Natera, Inc., a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born. The company also provides Signatera, a ctDNA blood test for molecular residual disease assessment and surveillance of disease recurrence in patients previously diagnosed with cancer; Altera, a tissue based comprehensive genomic profiling test; Prospera to assess active rejection in patients who have undergone kidney, heart, and lung transplantation; and Renasight, a kidney gene panel test. In addition, it offers Constellation, a cloud-based software product that enables laboratory customers to gain access through the cloud to the company's algorithms and bioinformatics to validate and launch tests. The company offers products through its direct sales force, as well as through a network of laboratory and distribution partners. It has a partnership agreement with BGI Genomics Co., Ltd. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize NGS-based genetic testing assays; and Foundation Medicine, Inc. to develop and commercialize personalized circulating tumor DNA monitoring assays. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.