Electronic Sensor Technologies (OTCMKTS:ESNR) & Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) Financial Contrast

Electronic Sensor Technologies (OTCMKTS:ESNR) and Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.9% of Harvard Bioscience shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.5% of Harvard Bioscience shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Electronic Sensor Technologies and Harvard Bioscience, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Electronic Sensor Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00
Harvard Bioscience	0	1	1	0	2.50

Harvard Bioscience has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 572.65%. Given Harvard Bioscience’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Harvard Bioscience is more favorable than Electronic Sensor Technologies.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Electronic Sensor Technologies and Harvard Bioscience”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Electronic Sensor Technologies	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Harvard Bioscience	$94.14 million	0.21	-$12.40 million	($1.32)	-0.34

Electronic Sensor Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Harvard Bioscience.

Profitability

This table compares Electronic Sensor Technologies and Harvard Bioscience’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Electronic Sensor Technologies	N/A	N/A	N/A
Harvard Bioscience	-63.51%	-4.96%	-2.24%

Summary

Harvard Bioscience beats Electronic Sensor Technologies on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Electronic Sensor Technologies

Electronic Sensor Technology, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells electronic devices used for vapor analysis. The company offers zNose, an electronic nose designed for various industry applications, which can detect odors and chemical vapors produced by explosives, chemicals, and biological weapons, as well as used for identifying hazardous industrial materials, improvised explosives, and flammable materials. Its product is used in the homeland security, chemical and petrochemical, environmental, life science, and food and beverage industries. The company also provides spare parts, such as columns, saw detectors, and traps; and accessories, including rugged shipping case, battery assemblies, battery chargers, DC/AC inverters, desorbers, heaters, remote samplers, sample injectors, system controllers, user tool kits, and water traps, as well as support and validation services. Electronic Sensor Technology offers its products through online store. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Newbury Park, California. Electronic Sensor Technology, Inc. is a subsidiary of Halfmoon Bay Capital Limited.

About Harvard Bioscience

Harvard Bioscience, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells technologies, products, and services for life science applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers cellular and molecular technology products, such as syringe and peristaltic infusion pump products; electroporation and electrofusion instruments, amino acid analyzers, spectrophotometers, and other equipment for molecular level testing and research; and precision scientific measuring instrumentation and equipment, including data acquisition systems for cellular analysis, complete micro electrode array solutions for in vivo recordings, and in vitro systems for extracellular recordings. It also provides preclinical products that includes platform to assess physiological data from organisms for research, drug discovery, and drug development services comprising implantable and externally worn telemetry systems for use in research to collect cardiovascular, central nervous system, respiratory, and metabolic data; behavioral products; isolated organ and surgical products, instruments and accessories for tissue, and organ-based lab research, including surgical products, infusion systems, and behavior research systems; turn-key respiratory system solutions, including plethysmograph chambers, data acquisition hardware, physiological signal analysis software, and final report generation; inhalation and exposure systems; and GLP-capable data acquisition and analysis systems. The company markets its products through sales organizations, websites, and distributors to research scientists in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, hospitals, and government laboratories; and contract research organizations and academic labs. It primarily sells its products under Harvard Apparatus, DSI, Buxco, Biochrom, BTX, Heka, Hugo Sachs, Multichannel Systems MCS GmbH, and Panlab brands. Harvard Bioscience, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is based in Holliston, Massachusetts.