Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (NASDAQ:OCDX) and Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ:VIVO) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Profitability
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This table compares Ortho Clinical Diagnostics and Meridian Bioscience’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ortho Clinical Diagnostics | N/A | -117.10% | 3.21% |
| Meridian Bioscience | 23.29% | 24.58% | 16.60% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics and Meridian Bioscience, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ortho Clinical Diagnostics | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 2.92 |
| Meridian Bioscience | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics currently has a consensus target price of $25.36, suggesting a potential upside of 25.01%. Meridian Bioscience has a consensus target price of $30.50, suggesting a potential upside of 56.01%. Given Meridian Bioscience’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Meridian Bioscience is more favorable than Ortho Clinical Diagnostics.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
92.2% of Meridian Bioscience shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Meridian Bioscience shares are owned 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.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Ortho Clinical Diagnostics and Meridian Bioscience’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ortho Clinical Diagnostics | $1.77 billion | 2.56 | -$211.90 million | $0.29 | 69.97 |
| Meridian Bioscience | $253.67 million | 3.34 | $46.19 million | $1.07 | 18.27 |
Meridian Bioscience has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. Meridian Bioscience is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Meridian Bioscience beats Ortho Clinical Diagnostics on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Holdings plc engages in the vitro diagnostics business worldwide. The company offers automated instruments; and assays, reagents, and other consumables that are used by these instruments to generate test results. Its solutions include clinical chemistry and immunoassay instruments and tests to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas, including COVID-19 antibody and antigen tests; and immunohematology instruments and tests for blood typing to ensure patient-donor compatibility in blood transfusions, as well as donor screening instruments and tests for blood and plasma screening for infectious diseases. The company also engages in contract manufacturing activities; and provides orthocare services. Its products are used in hospitals, laboratories, clinics, blood banks, and donor centers. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Raritan, New Jersey.
About Meridian Bioscience
Meridian Bioscience, Inc. engages in the development, production, sale, and distribution of diagnostic products. Its platforms include molecular, immunoassay, urea breath, and blood chemistry. It operates through the Diagnostics and Life Science segments. The Diagnostics segment consists of manufacturing operations for infectious disease and blood chemistry products; and sale and distribution of diagnostics products domestically and abroad. The Life Science segment distributes bulk antigens, antibodies, polymerase chain reaction/ quantitative PCR reagents, nucleotides, competent cells, and bioresearch reagents used by researchers, agri-bio companies, and other diagnostic manufacturing companies. The company was founded by William J. Motto in 1976 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.
