Head-To-Head Survey: Waters (NYSE:WAT) vs. Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT)

Waters (NYSE:WAT) and Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.0% of Waters shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.3% of Vicarious Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Waters shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Vicarious Surgical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Waters and Vicarious Surgical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waters	$3.17 billion	9.15	$642.63 million	$10.77	27.42
Vicarious Surgical	N/A	N/A	-$63.22 million	($8.26)	-0.15

Waters has higher revenue and earnings than Vicarious Surgical. Vicarious Surgical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waters, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Waters has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vicarious Surgical has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Waters and Vicarious Surgical, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waters	0	9	10	2	2.67
Vicarious Surgical	1	2	0	0	1.67

Waters presently has a consensus target price of $393.84, suggesting a potential upside of 33.37%. Vicarious Surgical has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 483.33%. Given Vicarious Surgical’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Vicarious Surgical is more favorable than Waters.

Profitability

This table compares Waters and Vicarious Surgical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waters	20.30%	34.79%	16.29%
Vicarious Surgical	N/A	-184.13%	-112.50%

Summary

Waters beats Vicarious Surgical on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Waters

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. In addition, the company offers MS technology instruments are used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. Further, the company provides thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer good, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research. Its products are used by clinical, pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. The company was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts.

About Vicarious Surgical

Vicarious Surgical Inc. operates as a robotics technology company in the United States. The company focuses on developing and commercializing Vicarious System, a single-incision surgical robot that virtually transports surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. Vicarious Surgical Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.