Analyzing Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) & Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Bioventus and Abbott Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bioventus	9.36%	28.08%	9.82%
Abbott Laboratories	11.65%	17.69%	9.44%

Risk & Volatility

Bioventus has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.9% of Bioventus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.5% of Bioventus shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Bioventus and Abbott Laboratories, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bioventus	0	1	5	0	2.83
Abbott Laboratories	0	4	20	3	2.96

Bioventus currently has a consensus target price of $16.80, suggesting a potential upside of 21.65%. Abbott Laboratories has a consensus target price of $119.50, suggesting a potential upside of 17.93%. Given Bioventus’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Bioventus is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bioventus and Abbott Laboratories”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bioventus	$568.09 million	2.04	$22.73 million	$0.77	17.94
Abbott Laboratories	$46.59 billion	3.76	$6.52 billion	$3.09	32.79

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

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats Bioventus on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bioventus

Bioventus Inc. a medical device company, focuses on developing and commercializing clinically treatments that engage and enhance the body’s natural healing process in the United States and internationally. The company’s portfolio of products includes pain treatments, which comprise non-surgical joint pain injection therapies, as well as peripheral nerve stimulation products. Its surgical solutions include bone graft substitutes to fuse and grow bones, enhance results following spinal and other orthopedic surgeries; and ultrasonic medical devices for the use in precise bone sculpting, remove tumors, and tissue debridement. The company’s restorative therapies comprise an ultrasonic bone healing system for fracture care; skin allografts; and products that are used to support healing of chronic wounds, as well as advanced rehabilitation devices designed to help patients regain leg or hand function. It serves physicians spanning the orthopedic continuum, including sports medicine, total joint reconstruction, hand and upper extremities, foot and ankle, podiatric surgery, trauma, spine, and neurosurgery in the physician’s office or clinic, ambulatory surgical centers, or in the hospital setting. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon. It also offers laboratory and transfusion medicine systems in the areas of immunoassay, clinical chemistry, hematology, and transfusion; molecular diagnostics polymerase chain reaction instrument systems that automate the extraction, purification, and preparation of DNA and RNA from patient samples, and detect and measure infectious agents; point of care systems; cartridges for testing blood gas, chemistry, electrolytes, coagulation, and immunoassay; rapid diagnostics lateral flow testing products; molecular point-of-care testing for HIV, SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B, RSV, and strep A; cardiometabolic test systems; drug and alcohol test, and remote patient monitoring and consumer self-test systems; and informatics and automation solutions for laboratories. In addition, the company provides pediatric and adult nutritional products; rhythm management, electrophysiology, heart failure, vascular, and structural heart devices for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases; diabetes care products, such as glucose and blood glucose monitoring systems; and neuromodulation devices for the management of chronic pain and movement disorders. Abbott Laboratories was founded in 1888 and is based in North Chicago, Illinois.