Orthofix Medical (NASDAQ:OFIX) vs. AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) Head-To-Head Contrast

Orthofix Medical (NASDAQ:OFIX) and AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.8% of Orthofix Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.1% of AtriCure shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Orthofix Medical shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of AtriCure shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Orthofix Medical and AtriCure, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orthofix Medical	0	1	3	0	2.75
AtriCure	0	0	8	0	3.00

Orthofix Medical presently has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 26.86%. AtriCure has a consensus price target of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.18%. Given Orthofix Medical’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Orthofix Medical is more favorable than AtriCure.

Volatility and Risk

Orthofix Medical has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AtriCure has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Orthofix Medical and AtriCure”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orthofix Medical	$746.64 million	0.93	-$151.40 million	($3.13)	-5.79
AtriCure	$399.24 million	4.70	-$30.44 million	($0.83)	-46.35

AtriCure has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Orthofix Medical. AtriCure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orthofix Medical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Orthofix Medical and AtriCure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orthofix Medical	-15.18%	-21.25%	-13.29%
AtriCure	-8.70%	-8.12%	-6.21%

Summary

AtriCure beats Orthofix Medical on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orthofix Medical

Orthofix Medical Inc. operates as a spine and orthopedics company in the United States, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Global Spine and Global Orthopedics. The Global Spine segment manufactures and distributes bone growth stimulator devices for enhance of bone fusion, including adjunctive and noninvasive treatment of cervical and lumbar spine, as well as a therapeutic treatment for non-spine; designs, develops, and markets a portfolio of motion preservation and fixation implant products, which are used in surgical procedures of the spine; and offers biological products, such as fiber-based and particulate demineralized bone matrices, cellular bone allografts, collagen ceramic matrices, and synthetic bone void fillers, and tissue forms, which allow physicians to treat various spinal and orthopedic conditions. This segment also designs, develops, and markets a portfolio of navigation technologies, including tracked surgical tools, intelligent software, and imaging equipment based on machine-vision and optical innovations. The Global Orthopedics segment offers products and solutions that allow physicians to treat various orthopedic conditions related to limb reconstruction and deformity correction unrelated to the spine. This segment designs, develops, and markets external and internal fixation orthopedic products that are coupled with enabling digital technologies to serve the complete patient treatment pathway. It sells its products through distributors and sales representatives to hospitals, healthcare organizations, and healthcare providers. The company was formerly known as Orthofix International N.V. and changed its name to Orthofix Medical Inc. in 2018. Orthofix Medical Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Lewisville, Texas.

About AtriCure

AtriCure, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells devices for surgical ablation of cardiac tissue, exclusion of the left atrial appendage, and temporarily blocking pain by ablating peripheral nerves to medical centers in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers Isolator Synergy Clamps, single-use disposable radio frequency products; multifunctional pens and linear ablation devices, such as the MAX Pen device that enables surgeons to evaluate cardiac arrhythmias, perform temporary cardiac pacing, sensing, and stimulation, and ablate cardiac tissue with the same device; and the Coolrail device, which enables users to make longer linear lines of ablation. It also provides cryoICE Cryoablation System that enables the user to make linear ablations of varied lengths; EPi-Sense Systems, a single-use disposable device used for the treatment of symptomatic, drug-refractory, and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation; cryoSPHERE probe, which provides temporary pain relief by applying cryothermic energy to targeted intercoastal peripheral nerves in the ribcage; AtriClip System, an implantable device coupled to a single-use disposable applier; and LARIAT System, a suture-based solution for soft-tissue closure. In addition, the company sells Lumitip dissectors to separate tissues to provide access to key anatomical structures that are targeted for ablation; Glidepath guides for placement of clamps; Subtle Cannula's to support access for EPi-Sense catheters; and various reusable cardiac surgery instruments. It markets and sells its products through independent distributors and direct sales personnel. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Mason, Ohio.