Critical Contrast: ICU Medical (ICUI) and Its Rivals

ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) is one of 511 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare ICU Medical to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares ICU Medical and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICU Medical	2.76%	8.40%	4.51%
ICU Medical Competitors	-304.51%	-178.77%	-22.17%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for ICU Medical and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICU Medical	0	3	4	2	2.89
ICU Medical Competitors	4280	10554	18334	829	2.46

ICU Medical currently has a consensus price target of $195.20, indicating a potential upside of 13.42%. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 21.42%. Given ICU Medical’s rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ICU Medical has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of ICU Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of ICU Medical shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

ICU Medical has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ICU Medical’s rivals have a beta of 2.57, indicating that their average stock price is 157% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ICU Medical and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICU Medical	$2.23 billion	$730,000.00	72.01
ICU Medical Competitors	$1.89 billion	$135.83 million	11.03

ICU Medical has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its rivals. ICU Medical is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

ICU Medical beats its rivals on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

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.