Reviewing Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) and Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN)

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) and Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.4% of Amedisys shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.5% of Elanco Animal Health shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Amedisys shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Elanco Animal Health shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Amedisys and Elanco Animal Health”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amedisys	$2.35 billion	1.39	$43.23 million	$2.57	38.64
Elanco Animal Health	$4.44 billion	1.59	$338.00 million	$0.74	19.24

Elanco Animal Health has higher revenue and earnings than Amedisys. Elanco Animal Health is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amedisys, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Amedisys has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Elanco Animal Health has a beta of 1.66, suggesting that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Amedisys and Elanco Animal Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amedisys	3.56%	12.91%	7.29%
Elanco Animal Health	8.43%	7.54%	3.57%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Amedisys and Elanco Animal Health, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amedisys	0	1	1	0	2.50
Elanco Animal Health	0	2	5	1	2.88

Amedisys currently has a consensus price target of $100.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.20%. Elanco Animal Health has a consensus price target of $16.1667, indicating a potential upside of 13.53%. Given Elanco Animal Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Elanco Animal Health is more favorable than Amedisys.

Summary

Elanco Animal Health beats Amedisys on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amedisys

Amedisys, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home Health, Hospice, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients. The Hospice segment offers services that is designed to provide comfort and support for those who are dealing with a terminal illness, including cancer, heart disease, pulmonary disease, or Alzheimer’s. The High Acuity Care offers essential elements of inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility care, and palliative care to patients in their homes. Amedisys, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands. The company sells its products to third-party distributors; veterinarians; and farm animal producers, including beef and dairy farmers, as well as pork, poultry, and aquaculture operations. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Greenfield, Indiana.