Reviewing ImmuCell (NASDAQ:ICCC) & ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI)

ImmuCell (NASDAQ:ICCC) and ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.5% of ImmuCell shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of ICU Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of ImmuCell shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of ICU Medical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares ImmuCell and ICU Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ImmuCell	-3.76%	-3.60%	-2.30%
ICU Medical	0.03%	7.33%	3.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for ImmuCell and ICU Medical, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ImmuCell	1	0	0	0	1.00
ICU Medical	1	0	2	1	2.75

ICU Medical has a consensus target price of $174.33, suggesting a potential upside of 39.67%. Given ICU Medical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ICU Medical is more favorable than ImmuCell.

Volatility and Risk

ImmuCell has a beta of 0.3, indicating that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ICU Medical has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ImmuCell and ICU Medical”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ImmuCell	$27.64 million	2.73	-$1.04 million	($0.11)	-75.91
ICU Medical	$2.23 billion	1.40	$730,000.00	$0.02	6,241.00

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

Summary

ICU Medical beats ImmuCell on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ImmuCell

ImmuCell Corporation, an animal health company, develops, manufactures, and sells products that enhance the health and productivity of dairy and beef cattle in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Scours and Mastitis. It offers First Defense, an orally delivered scours preventive product for calves with claims against E. coli, coronavirus, and rotavirus; and Tri-Shield First Defense, a passive antibody product for the treatment of E. coli, coronavirus, and rotavirus. The company also provides California Mastitis Test, a quick on-farm diagnostic that is used to detect somatic cell counts in milk, as well as to determine, which quarter of the udder is mastitic; and Dual-Force First Defense, a bivalent gel tube formulation. In addition, it is developing Re-Tain Drug Product, a Nisin-based intramammary treatment of subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows. It sells its products through animal health distributors. ImmuCell Corporation was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine.

About ICU Medical

ICU Medical, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells medical devices used in infusion therapy, vascular access, and vital care applications worldwide. Its infusion therapy products include needlefree products under the MicroClave, MicroClave Clear, and NanoClave brands; Neutron catheter patency devices; ChemoClave and ChemoLock closed system transfer devices, which are used to limit the escape of hazardous drugs or vapor concentrations, block the transfer of environmental contaminants into the system, and eliminates the risk of needlestick injury; Tego needle free connectors; Deltec GRIPPER non-coring needles for portal access; and ClearGuard, SwabCap, and SwabTip disinfection caps. The company provides IV therapy and diluents, such as sodium chloride, dextrose, balanced electrolyte solutions, lactated ringer's, ringer's, mannitol, sodium chloride/dextrose, and sterile water; and irrigation solutions comprising sodium chloride and sterile water irrigation, physiologic solutions, ringer's irrigation, acetic acid irrigation, glycine irrigation, sorbitol-mannitol irrigation, flexible containers, and pour bottle options. It offers infusion pumps under the Plum 360 and Plum Duo brands; ambulatory and syringe infusion hardware products; IV mediation safety software, including ICU Medical MedNet, an enterprise-class medication management platform; LifeShield and PharmGuard medication infusion safety software; hemodynamic monitoring products; anesthesia systems and devices, breathing circuits, ventilation, respiratory, and specialty airway products; temperature management solutions; anesthesia/pain management trays and components; and professional services. The company's customers include acute care hospitals, wholesalers, ambulatory clinics, and alternate site facilities, including outpatient clinics, home health care providers, and long-term care facilities. ICU Medical, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in San Clemente, California.