Contrasting electroCore (NASDAQ:ECOR) and CONMED (NYSE:CNMD)

electroCore (NASDAQ:ECOR) and CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for electroCore and CONMED, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
electroCore	0	0	1	0	3.00
CONMED	0	1	4	0	2.80

electroCore presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 47.93%. CONMED has a consensus target price of $79.80, indicating a potential upside of 15.92%. Given electroCore’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe electroCore is more favorable than CONMED.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares electroCore and CONMED”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
electroCore	$23.33 million	4.75	-$18.83 million	($1.83)	-9.23
CONMED	$1.29 billion	1.65	$64.46 million	$4.21	16.35

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.7% of electroCore shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.7% of electroCore shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.8% of CONMED shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares electroCore and CONMED’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
electroCore	-54.40%	-154.45%	-69.16%
CONMED	10.23%	13.84%	5.26%

Volatility & Risk

electroCore has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CONMED has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

CONMED beats electroCore on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About electroCore

electroCore, Inc., a commercial stage bioelectronic medicine and wellness company, provides non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation technology platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company is developing gammaCore, a prescription only handheld device intended for regular or intermittent use for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine and episodic cluster headache, as well as for the treatment of hemicrania continua and paroxysmal hemicrania. It also develops Truvaga for the support of general health and wellbeing; and TAC-STIM for human performance. In addition, the company offers gammacore Sapphire, a portable, reusable, rechargeable, and reloadable prescription medical device for various primary headache conditions. electroCore, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Rockaway, New Jersey.

About CONMED

CONMED Corporation, a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and sells surgical devices and related equipment for surgical procedures worldwide. The company offers orthopedic surgery products, including BioBrace, TruShot with Y-Knot All-In-One Soft Tissue Fixation System, Y-knot All-Suture Anchors, and Agro Knotless Suture Anchors, which provide clinical solutions to orthopedic surgeons for the augmentation and repair of soft tissue injuries, as well as provides supporting products that enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive sports medicine surgeries. It markets orthopedic surgery products under the Hall, CONMED Linvatec, Concept, and Shutt brands. The company also provides battery-powered and autoclavable bone power tool systems for use in orthopedic, arthroscopic, oral/maxillofacial, podiatric, spinal, and cardiothoracic surgeries under Hall surgical brand name. In addition, it offers general surgery products, including clinical insufflation systems under AirSeal brand; smoke removal devices under Buffalo Filter brand; endomechanical products, such as tissue retrieval bags, trocars, suction irrigation devices, graspers, scissors, and dissectors used in minimally invasive surgeries; and electrosurgical solution comprising monopolar and bipolar generators, argon beam coagulation generators, handpieces, smoke management systems and other accessories. Further, the company provides endoscopic technologies, including therapeutic and diagnostic products for use in gastroenterology procedures, and products for the treatment of diseases of the dilatation, hemostasis, biliary, structure management, and infection prevention and patient monitoring, including ECG and EEG electrodes, and cardiac defibrillation pads. It markets its products directly to hospitals, surgery centers, and other healthcare institutions, as well as through medical specialty distributors. CONMED Corporation was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Largo, Florida.