Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) versus Integer (NYSE:ITGR) Head-To-Head Survey

Integer (NYSE:ITGR) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.3% of Integer shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Integer shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares 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.

Volatility and Risk

Integer has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.51, indicating that its stock price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Integer and Intuitive Surgical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Integer	0	6	4	0	2.40
Intuitive Surgical	1	7	18	0	2.65

Integer currently has a consensus price target of $98.29, suggesting a potential upside of 17.44%. Intuitive Surgical has a consensus price target of $581.91, suggesting a potential upside of 27.12%. Given Intuitive Surgical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Intuitive Surgical is more favorable than Integer.

Profitability

This table compares Integer and Intuitive Surgical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Integer	7.64%	12.83%	6.51%
Intuitive Surgical	28.15%	15.98%	14.07%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Integer and Intuitive Surgical”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Integer	$1.86 billion	1.54	$102.81 million	$2.87	29.16
Intuitive Surgical	$10.58 billion	15.32	$2.86 billion	$8.25	55.49

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

Summary

Intuitive Surgical beats Integer on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Integer

Integer Holdings Corporation operates as a medical device outsource manufacturer in the United States, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Medical and Non-Medical. The company offers products for interventional cardiology, structural heart, heart failure, peripheral vascular, neurovascular, interventional oncology, electrophysiology, vascular access, infusion therapy, hemodialysis, non-vascular, urology, and gastroenterology procedures. It also provides cardiac rhythm management products, including implantable pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, insertable cardiac monitors, implantable cardiac pacing and defibrillation leads, and heart failure therapies; neuromodulation products, such as implantable spinal cord stimulators; and non-rechargeable batteries, feedthroughs, device enclosures, machined components, and lead components and sub-assemblies. In addition, the company offers rechargeable batteries and chargers; and arthroscopic, laparoscopic, and general surgery devices and components, such as harmonic scalpels, shaver blades, burr shavers, radio frequency probes, biopsy probes, trocars, electrocautery components, wound dressings, GERD treatment components, and phacoemulsification needles. Further, it provides orthopedic products that include instruments used in hip, knee, and spine surgeries, as well as reamers and chisels. Additionally, the company offers customized battery power and power management systems, and battery solutions for the energy, military, and environmental markets. Furthermore, the company provides medical technologies. It serves multi-national original equipment manufacturers and their affiliated subsidiaries in the cardiac rhythm management, neuromodulation, orthopedics, vascular, and advanced surgical and portable medical markets. Integer Holdings Corporation was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets products that enable physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality of and access to minimally invasive care in the United States and internationally. The company offers the da Vinci Surgical System that enables complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach; and Ion endoluminal system, which extends its commercial offerings beyond surgery into diagnostic procedures enabling minimally invasive biopsies in the lung. It also provides a suite of stapling, energy, and core instrumentation for its multi-port da Vinci surgical systems; progressive learning pathways to support the use of its technology; infrastructure of service and support specialists, a complement of services to its customers, including installation, repair, maintenance, 24/7 technical support, and proactive system health monitoring; and integrated digital capabilities providing connected offerings, streamlining performance for hospitals with program-enhancing insights. The company sells its products through direct sales organizations, such as capital and clinical sales teams. It has a collaboration agreement with FluoGuide A/S for head & neck cancer. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.