ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) & NEXGEL (NASDAQ:NXGL) Head to Head Analysis

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICU Medical	-1.31%	6.35%	3.03%
NEXGEL	-77.19%	-46.54%	-30.11%

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICU Medical	0	0	2	0	3.00
NEXGEL	0	0	0	0	N/A

ICU Medical presently has a consensus target price of $123.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.96%. Given ICU Medical’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe ICU Medical is more favorable than NEXGEL.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ICU Medical and NEXGEL’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICU Medical	$2.26 billion	1.10	-$29.66 million	($1.23)	-82.67
NEXGEL	$4.09 million	3.01	-$3.16 million	($0.56)	-3.84

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.1% of ICU Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.2% of NEXGEL shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.5% of ICU Medical shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.2% of NEXGEL shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

ICU Medical has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NEXGEL has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ICU Medical beats NEXGEL on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About NEXGEL

NEXGEL, Inc. manufactures high water content, electron beam cross-linked, and aqueous polymer hydrogels and gels. Its products are used for wound care, medical diagnostics, transdermal drug delivery, and cosmetics. The company was formerly known as AquaMed Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to NEXGEL, Inc. in November 2019. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.