Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ: VIVO) and Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE:HRC) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitabiliy and earnings.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
86.4% of Meridian Bioscience shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.9% of Hill-Rom Holdings shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Meridian Bioscience shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Hill-Rom Holdings shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Meridian Bioscience pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hill-Rom Holdings pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Meridian Bioscience pays out 70.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hill-Rom Holdings pays out 31.0% 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. Hill-Rom Holdings has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Meridian Bioscience and Hill-Rom Holdings’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Meridian Bioscience | $198.60 million | 3.26 | $55.72 million | $0.71 | 21.62 |
| Hill-Rom Holdings | $2.68 billion | 2.05 | $458.00 million | $2.32 | 35.98 |
Hill-Rom Holdings has higher revenue and earnings than Meridian Bioscience. Meridian Bioscience is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hill-Rom Holdings, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Meridian Bioscience has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hill-Rom Holdings has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Meridian Bioscience and Hill-Rom Holdings, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Meridian Bioscience | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 |
| Hill-Rom Holdings | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
Meridian Bioscience currently has a consensus target price of $14.33, suggesting a potential downside of 6.62%. Hill-Rom Holdings has a consensus target price of $88.20, suggesting a potential upside of 5.67%. Given Hill-Rom Holdings’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hill-Rom Holdings is more favorable than Meridian Bioscience.
Profitability
This table compares Meridian Bioscience and Hill-Rom Holdings’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Meridian Bioscience | 15.02% | 18.02% | 12.00% |
| Hill-Rom Holdings | 5.80% | 19.77% | 5.64% |
Summary
Hill-Rom Holdings beats Meridian Bioscience on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
Meridian Bioscience Company Profile
Meridian Bioscience, Inc. is a life science company engaged in the development, manufacture, sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits for gastrointestinal, viral, respiratory and parasitic infectious diseases, and elevated blood lead levels, and the manufacture and distribution of bulk antigens, antibodies, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/quantitative PCR (qPCR) reagents, nucleotides, competent cells and bioresearch reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers. Its segments include Diagnostics and Life Science. The Diagnostics segment includes manufacturing operations in Cincinnati, and the sale and distribution of diagnostic test kits in the countries consisting of North, Central and South America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other countries outside of the Americas and EMEA. The Life Science segment consists of manufacturing operations in Memphis, Tennessee; Boca Raton, Florida; London, England; Luckenwalde, Germany, and Sydney, Australia.
Hill-Rom Holdings Company Profile
Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. is a global medical technology company. The Company operates through four segments: North America Patient Support Systems, International Patient Support Systems, Front Line Care and Surgical Solutions. The Company’s products and services include Patient Support Systems, Front Line Care and Surgical Solutions. The Company sells and rents its specialty frames and surfaces, and mobility solutions, as well as its clinical workflow solutions, in the United States and Canada through its North America Patient Support Systems segment, and in regions outside of the United States and Canada through its International Patient Support Systems segment. Its Front Line Care segment globally sells and rents respiratory care products, and sells medical diagnostic equipment and a diversified portfolio of devices that assess, diagnose, treat and manage a range of illnesses and diseases. Under its Surgical Solutions segment, the Company sells its surgical products globally.
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