Critical Comparison: Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) & Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO)

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) and Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Becton, Dickinson and Company and Cooper Companies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Becton, Dickinson and Company	1	8	7	0	2.38
Cooper Companies	1	7	8	1	2.53

Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus target price of $184.86, indicating a potential upside of 28.40%. Cooper Companies has a consensus target price of $90.79, indicating a potential upside of 52.66%. Given Cooper Companies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cooper Companies is more favorable than Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Becton, Dickinson and Company and Cooper Companies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Becton, Dickinson and Company	$21.84 billion	1.82	$1.68 billion	$3.95	36.45
Cooper Companies	$4.09 billion	2.84	$374.90 million	$2.02	29.44

Becton, Dickinson and Company has higher revenue and earnings than Cooper Companies. Cooper Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Becton, Dickinson and Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.0% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Cooper Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Cooper Companies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Becton, Dickinson and Company and Cooper Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Becton, Dickinson and Company	5.33%	15.37%	7.11%
Cooper Companies	9.67%	10.34%	6.93%

Risk and Volatility

Becton, Dickinson and Company has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cooper Companies has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cooper Companies beats Becton, Dickinson and Company on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional. The BD Medical segment provides peripheral intravenous (IV) and advanced peripheral catheters, central lines, acute dialysis catheters, vascular access technology, vascular care and preparation products, needle-free IV connectors and extensions sets, closed-system drug transfer devices, hazardous drug detections, hypodermic syringes and needles, anesthesia needles and trays, enteral syringes, and sharps disposal systems; IV medication safety and infusion therapy delivery systems, medication compounding workflow systems, automated medication dispensing and supply management systems, and medication inventory optimization and tracking systems; and prefillable drug delivery systems. The BD Life Sciences segment offers specimen and blood collection products; automated blood and tuberculosis culturing, molecular testing, microorganism identification and drug susceptibility, and liquid-based cytology systems, as well as rapid diagnostic assays, microbiology laboratory automation products, and plated media products; and fluorescence-activated cell sorters and analyzers, antibodies and kits, reagent systems, and solutions for single-cell gene expression analysis, as well as clinical oncology, immunological, and transplantation diagnostic/monitoring reagents and analyzers. The BD Interventional segment provides hernia and soft tissue repair, biological and bioresorbable grafts, biosurgery, and other surgical products; surgical infection prevention; peripheral intervention products; and urology and critical care products. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

About Cooper Companies

The Cooper Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets contact lens wearers. The company operates in two segments, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. The CooperVision segment provides spherical lense, including lenses that correct near and farsightedness; and toric and multifocal lenses comprising lenses correcting vision challenges, such as astigmatism, presbyopia, and myopia in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. The CooperSurgical segment focuses on family and women's health care, which provides fertility products and services, medical devices, and contraception, as well as cryostorage, such as cord blood and cord tissue storage to health care professionals and patients worldwide. It offers surgical and office products, including endosee endometrial imaging products, fetal pillow cephalic elevation devices for use in cesarean sections, illuminated speculum products, lone star retractor systems, loop electrosurgical excision procedure products, mara water ablation systems, paragard contraceptive IUDs, point-of-care, and uterine positioning products, as well as cryostorage, such as cord blood and cord tissue storage; fertility products and services, such as fertility consumables and equipment, donor gamete services, and genomic services, including genetic testing. The company sells its products to distributors, group purchasing organizations, eye care and health care professionals, including independent practices, corporate retailers, hospitals and clinics, and authorized resellers. The Cooper Companies, Inc. was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California.