Financial Comparison: Tactile Systems Technology (NASDAQ:TCMD) versus Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD)

Tactile Systems Technology (NASDAQ:TCMD) and Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Tactile Systems Technology and Insulet, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tactile Systems Technology	0	2	0	1	2.67
Insulet	0	2	13	0	2.87

Tactile Systems Technology presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.72%. Insulet has a consensus target price of $277.13, suggesting a potential downside of 1.22%. Given Tactile Systems Technology’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Tactile Systems Technology is more favorable than Insulet.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.4% of Tactile Systems Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Tactile Systems Technology shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Insulet shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Tactile Systems Technology has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Insulet has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Tactile Systems Technology and Insulet”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tactile Systems Technology	$274.42 million	1.52	$28.51 million	$0.65	26.66
Insulet	$1.70 billion	11.60	$206.30 million	$5.84	48.04

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

Profitability

This table compares Tactile Systems Technology and Insulet’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tactile Systems Technology	5.42%	9.24%	6.56%
Insulet	21.22%	27.98%	9.16%

Summary

Insulet beats Tactile Systems Technology on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tactile Systems Technology

Tactile Systems Technology, Inc., a medical technology company, develops and provides medical devices to treat underserved chronic diseases in the United States. It offers Flexitouch Plus system, a pneumatic compression device for the treatment of lymphedema in the home setting; and Entre Plus System, a portable pneumatic compression device for the at-home treatment of venous disorders, such as lymphedema and chronic venous insufficiency, including venous leg ulcers. The company also provides Kylee, a mobile application to help patients learn about lymphedema, track their symptoms, and treatment, as well as to share their progress with their doctor; and AffloVest, a portable high frequency chest wall oscillation vest to treat patients with retained pulmonary secretions resulting from bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, and various neuromuscular disorders. Tactile Systems Technology, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Insulet

Insulet Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells insulin delivery systems for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. The company's Omnipod platform includes the Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery System (Omnipod 5) which includes a proprietary AID algorithm embedded in the Pod that integrates with a third-party continuous glucose monitor to obtain glucose values through wireless bluetooth communication; Omnipod DASH that features a bluetooth enabled Pod that is controlled by a smartphone-like Personal Diabetes Manager with a color touch screen user interface; and Omnipod GO, a standalone, wearable, insulin delivery system that provides a fixed rate of continuous rapid-acting insulin for 72 hours. The company sells its products primarily through independent distributors and pharmacy channels, as well as directly in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and internationally. Insulet Corporation was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts.