Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS – Get Free Report) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.
Risk & Volatility
Cerus has a beta of 1.77, meaning that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings for Cerus and Abbott Laboratories, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cerus | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Abbott Laboratories | 1 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 2.89 |
Profitability
This table compares Cerus and Abbott Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cerus | -4.41% | -15.18% | -4.38% |
| Abbott Laboratories | 13.90% | 17.62% | 10.01% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
78.4% of Cerus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Cerus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Abbott Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Cerus and Abbott Laboratories”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cerus | $206.13 million | 3.07 | -$15.63 million | ($0.05) | -63.20 |
| Abbott Laboratories | $44.33 billion | 3.74 | $6.52 billion | $3.57 | 26.68 |
Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Cerus. Cerus 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 Cerus on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cerus
Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion. The company offers INTERCEPT Blood Systems for platelets and plasma, which is designed to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in platelets and plasma donated for transfusion; INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in red blood cells donated for transfusion; and INTERCEPT Blood System for Cryoprecipitation that uses its plasma system to produce pathogen reduced cryoprecipitated fibrinogen complex for the treatment and control of bleeding, including massive hemorrhage associated with fibrinogen deficiency, as well as pathogen reduced plasma, cryoprecipitate reduced. It sells platelet and plasma systems through its direct sales force and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, Latin America, and internationally. Cerus Corporation was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Concord, California.
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.
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