Head-To-Head Contrast: Nephros (NASDAQ:NEPH) versus TransMedics Group (NASDAQ:TMDX)

TransMedics Group (NASDAQ:TMDX) and Nephros (NASDAQ:NEPH) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares TransMedics Group and Nephros”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TransMedics Group	$605.49 million	4.87	$190.29 million	$3.89	21.93
Nephros	$18.79 million	2.44	$1.19 million	$0.16	26.44

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

Volatility and Risk

TransMedics Group has a beta of 1.9, suggesting that its share price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nephros has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares TransMedics Group and Nephros’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TransMedics Group	22.69%	15.88%	5.95%
Nephros	8.38%	10.60%	8.05%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for TransMedics Group and Nephros, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TransMedics Group	1	6	5	0	2.33
Nephros	0	3	1	0	2.25

TransMedics Group currently has a consensus price target of $121.10, indicating a potential upside of 41.99%. Nephros has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.44%. Given TransMedics Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TransMedics Group is more favorable than Nephros.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.7% of TransMedics Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of Nephros shares are held by institutional investors. 6.9% of TransMedics Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Nephros shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

TransMedics Group beats Nephros on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TransMedics Group

TransMedics Group, Inc., a commercial-stage medical technology company, engages in transforming organ transplant therapy for end-stage organ failure patients in the United States and internationally. The company offers Organ Care System (OCS), a portable organ perfusion, optimization, and monitoring system that utilizes its proprietary and customized technology to replicate near-physiologic conditions for donor organs outside of the human body. Its OCS includes OCS LUNG for the preservation of standard criteria donor lungs for double-lung transplantation; OCS Heart, a technology for preservation of DBD donor hearts deemed unsuitable due to limitations of cold storage and for ex vivo reanimation, functional monitoring, and beating-heart preservation of donation-after-circulatory-death hearts; and OCS Liver for the preservation of DBD and DCD of donor livers. The company also developed national OCS program, a turnkey solution for outsourced organ retrieval; and provides OCS organ management and logistics services, including aviation and ground transportation, and other coordination activity. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.

About Nephros

Nephros, Inc., a commercial-stage company, develops and sells water solutions to the medical and commercial markets in the United States. It offers ultrafiltration products that are used in dialysis centers for the removal of biological contaminants from water and bicarbonate concentrate; and in hospitals for the prevention of infection from waterborne pathogens, such as legionella and pseudomonas, as well as in military and outdoor recreation, commercial, and other healthcare facilities. The company also manufactures and sells water filters that enhance the taste and odor of water, as well as reduce biofilm, cysts, particulates, and scale build-up in downstream equipment. It markets its products to food service, hospitality, convenience store, and health care markets, as well as medical institutions. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in South Orange, New Jersey.