Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) versus Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) Head to Head Comparison

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) and Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.0% of Bio-Techne shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.6% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Bio-Techne shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Bio-Techne pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Mesa Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bio-Techne pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mesa Laboratories pays out 76.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Bio-Techne and Mesa Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bio-Techne	14.97%	13.23%	10.61%
Mesa Laboratories	1.92%	22.72%	9.82%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bio-Techne and Mesa Laboratories”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bio-Techne	$1.22 billion	9.35	$181.86 million	$1.15	63.02
Mesa Laboratories	$249.13 million	2.92	$6.71 million	$0.84	154.69

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Bio-Techne and Mesa Laboratories, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bio-Techne	0	15	2	0	2.12
Mesa Laboratories	0	3	0	0	2.00

Bio-Techne presently has a consensus target price of $68.92, indicating a potential downside of 4.89%. Mesa Laboratories has a consensus target price of $110.00, indicating a potential downside of 15.35%. Given Bio-Techne’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Bio-Techne is more favorable than Mesa Laboratories.

Volatility and Risk

Bio-Techne has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Laboratories has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bio-Techne beats Mesa Laboratories on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Greater China, rest of Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Protein Sciences, and Diagnostics and Genomics. The Protein Sciences segment develops and manufactures biological reagents used in various aspects of life science research, diagnostics, and cell and gene therapy, such as cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, small molecules, tissue culture sera, and cell selection technologies. This segment also offers proteomic analytical tools for automated western blot and multiplexed ELISA workflow consists of manual and automated protein analysis instruments and immunoassays for use in quantifying proteins in various biological fluids. The Diagnostics and Genomics segment develops and manufactures diagnostic products, including controls, calibrators, and diagnostic assays for regulated diagnostics market, exosome-based molecular diagnostic assays, advanced tissue-based in-situ hybridization assays for spatial genomic and tissue biopsy analysis, and genetic and oncology kits for research and clinical applications; and sells products for genetic carrier screening, oncology diagnostics, molecular controls, and research, as well as instruments and process control products for hematology, blood chemistry and gases, and coagulation controls and reagents used in various diagnostic applications. The company was formerly known as Techne Corporation and changed its name to Bio-Techne Corporation in November 2014. Bio-Techne Corporation was incorporated in 1976 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and services life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment offers biological, chemical, and cleaning indicators, used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization decontamination, disinfection, and cleaning processes in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare industries. This segment also provides testing and laboratory services to the dental and pharmaceutical industries. The Clinical Genomics segment offers MassARRAY, a genetic analysis tool system, and related consumables, including chips, panels, and chemical reagent solutions used by clinical labs to analyze DNA samples for inherited genetic disease testing, pharmacogenetics, oncology testing, infectious disease testing, doping and toxicology testing, and other differentiated applications for use in research. The Biopharmaceutical Development segment provides automated systems, such as Gyrolab xPand and Gyrolab xPlore hardware and software, Gyrolab Bioaffy consumable microfluidic disks, Gyrolab kits and Rexxip buffers for protein analysis; PurePep Chorus and Symphony instruments for peptide synthesis; and PurePep EasyClean products for purifying peptides. The Calibration Solutions segment offers quality control products to measure and calibrate critical parameters in applications, such as environmental and process monitoring, dialysis, gas flow, air quality, and torque testing in medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing, laboratory, and hospital environments. This segment’s products include continuous monitoring systems, dialysate meters and consumables, data loggers, gas flow calibration and air sampling equipment, and torque testing systems, offered under DialyGuard, ViewPoint, DataTrace, DryCal, and BGI brands. The company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.