Critical Survey: Minerva Surgical (NASDAQ:UTRS) versus Intersect ENT (NASDAQ:XENT)

Minerva Surgical (NASDAQ:UTRS – Get Rating) and Intersect ENT (NASDAQ:XENT – Get Rating) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Minerva Surgical and Intersect ENT’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Minerva Surgical	$52.10 million	2.43	-$21.46 million	N/A	N/A
Intersect ENT	$106.75 million	8.85	-$159.63 million	($4.79)	-5.84

Minerva Surgical has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Intersect ENT.

Profitability

This table compares Minerva Surgical and Intersect ENT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Minerva Surgical	N/A	N/A	N/A
Intersect ENT	-149.54%	-709.52%	-37.03%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Minerva Surgical and Intersect ENT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Minerva Surgical	0	0	4	0	3.00
Intersect ENT	0	3	0	0	2.00

Minerva Surgical currently has a consensus target price of $13.25, indicating a potential upside of 201.14%. Intersect ENT has a consensus target price of $28.28, indicating a potential upside of 1.13%. Given Minerva Surgical’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Minerva Surgical is more favorable than Intersect ENT.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

42.4% of Minerva Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Intersect ENT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Minerva Surgical beats Intersect ENT on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

Minerva Surgical Company Profile (Get Rating)

Minerva Surgical is a commercial-stage medical technology company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing minimally invasive solutions to meet the distinct uterine healthcare needs of women. Minerva Surgical is based in SANTA CLARA, Calif.

Intersect ENT Company Profile (Get Rating)

Intersect ENT, Inc. operates as an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) medical technology company in the United States. The company offers PROPEL, a steroid releasing implant to open the surgically enlarged sinus; PROPEL Mini, a releasing implant to treat patients undergoing frontal sinus surgery; and PROPEL Contour, a steroid releasing implant for the treatment of frontal and maxillary sinus ostia, or openings, of the dependent sinuses. It also provides SINUVA, a steroid releasing implant for the treatment of patients in the physician office setting; VENSURE Navigable and Stand-alone balloon, a sterile and single-use device, used to access and treat frontal, sphenoid sinus, and maxillary ostia in adults using a trans-nasal approach; and CUBE Navigation System, a virtual guidance platform for high precision ENT and ENT related skull-base surgeries. The company was formerly known as Sinexus, Inc. and changed its name to Intersect ENT, Inc. in November 2009. Intersect ENT, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.