Reviewing Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) and Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP)

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) and Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.0% of Medpace shares are held by institutional investors. 20.3% of Medpace shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Ardent Health shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Medpace and Ardent Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medpace	17.83%	118.82%	25.07%
Ardent Health	3.24%	19.02%	6.04%

Risk and Volatility

Medpace has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ardent Health has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Medpace and Ardent Health”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medpace	$2.53 billion	4.80	$404.39 million	$15.30	27.98
Ardent Health	$5.97 billion	0.23	$210.34 million	$1.45	6.61

Medpace has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ardent Health. Ardent Health is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Medpace, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Medpace and Ardent Health, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medpace	3	7	4	0	2.07
Ardent Health	2	4	6	0	2.33

Medpace currently has a consensus target price of $487.36, indicating a potential upside of 13.86%. Ardent Health has a consensus target price of $14.58, indicating a potential upside of 52.12%. Given Ardent Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ardent Health is more favorable than Medpace.

Summary

Medpace beats Ardent Health on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Medpace

Medpace Holdings, Inc. engages in the provision of outsourced clinical development services to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Its services include medical department, clinical trial management, data-driven feasibility, study-start-up, clinical monitoring, regulatory affairs, patient recruitment and retention, medical writing, biometrics and data sciences, pharmacovigilance, core laboratory, laboratories, clinics, and quality assurance. The company was founded by August James Troendle in 1992 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.

About Ardent Health

Ardent Health Partners, Inc. owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Ardent Health Partners, Inc. is a subsidiary of EGI-AM Investments, L.L.C.