Analyzing HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY) and bioMerieux (OTCMKTS:BMXMF)

HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY) and bioMerieux (OTCMKTS:BMXMF) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.6% of HealthEquity shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of HealthEquity shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

HealthEquity has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, bioMerieux has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for HealthEquity and bioMerieux, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HealthEquity	1	1	12	1	2.87
bioMerieux	0	2	0	0	2.00

HealthEquity currently has a consensus price target of $111.79, indicating a potential upside of 29.49%. Given HealthEquity’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe HealthEquity is more favorable than bioMerieux.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares HealthEquity and bioMerieux”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HealthEquity	$1.31 billion	5.55	$215.20 million	$2.46	35.09
bioMerieux	$4.60 billion	2.71	$449.73 million	N/A	N/A

bioMerieux has higher revenue and earnings than HealthEquity.

Profitability

This table compares HealthEquity and bioMerieux’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HealthEquity	16.39%	13.86%	8.67%
bioMerieux	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

HealthEquity beats bioMerieux on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HealthEquity

HealthEquity, Inc. provides technology-enabled services platforms to consumers and employers in the United States. The company offers cloud-based platforms for individuals to make health saving and spending decisions, pay healthcare bills, receive personalized benefit information, earn wellness incentives, grow their savings, and make investment choices; and health savings accounts. It also provides investment platform; and online-only automated investment advisory services through Advisor, a Web-based tool. In addition, the company offers flexible spending accounts; health reimbursement arrangements; and Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act continuation services, as well as administers pre-tax commuter benefit programs. It serves clients through a direct sales force; benefits brokers and advisors; and a network of health plans, benefits administrators, benefits brokers and consultants, and retirement plan record-keepers. HealthEquity, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Draper, Utah.

About bioMerieux

bioMérieux S.A. develops and produces in vitro diagnostic solutions for the diagnosis of infectious diseases in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers systems that use biological samples, such as blood, saliva, urine, etc. for the diagnosis of infectious diseases, including bacterial infections, parasitic infections, and viral infections; and microbiological control of production or the production environment primarily for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. It also provides a suite of software products and services that collect, analyze, and merge various sources of data to make decisions under the BIOMÉRIEUX VISION SUITE name; designs, manufactures, and maintains instruments and software; and designs and manufactures reagents for in vitro diagnostic tests. The company serves clinical and hospital laboratories, physicians, blood banks, vets, and industrial control laboratories. bioMérieux S.A. was formerly known as B-D Mérieux. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Marcy-l'Étoile, France. bioMérieux S.A. is a subsidiary of Institut Mérieux SA.