Head-To-Head Comparison: Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) vs. Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) and Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) are both mid-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Bruker and Sotera Health, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bruker	1	6	5	2	2.57
Sotera Health	1	2	8	0	2.64

Bruker currently has a consensus target price of $59.43, indicating a potential upside of 5.18%. Sotera Health has a consensus target price of $21.38, indicating a potential upside of 33.34%. Given Sotera Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sotera Health is more favorable than Bruker.

Profitability

This table compares Bruker and Sotera Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bruker	-2.35%	12.47%	4.91%
Sotera Health	13.44%	40.12%	7.55%

Volatility & Risk

Bruker has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sotera Health has a beta of 1.94, indicating that its share price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.5% of Bruker shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Sotera Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.2% of Bruker shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of Sotera Health shares are owned by company 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bruker and Sotera Health”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bruker	$3.44 billion	2.50	-$8.60 million	($0.70)	-80.71
Sotera Health	$1.16 billion	3.93	$77.94 million	$0.57	28.12

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

Summary

Sotera Health beats Bruker on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bruker

Bruker Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and distributes scientific instruments, and analytical and diagnostic solutions in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Bruker Scientific Instruments (BSI) BioSpin, BSI CALID, BSI Nano, and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies. It offers life science tools, and single and multiple modality systems; life science mass spectrometry; MALDI Biotyper rapid pathogen identification platform and related test kits, DNA test strips, and fluorescence-based polymerase chain reaction technology; genotype and fluorotype molecular diagnostics kits; research, analytical, and process analysis instruments and solutions; SARS-CoV 2 testing for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection; and Fluorotyper-SARS-CoV 2 plus kits. It also provides range of portable analytical and bioanalytical detection systems, and related products; X-ray instruments; analytical tools for electron microscopes, as well as handheld, portable, and mobile X-ray fluorescence spectrometry instruments; atomic force microscopy instrumentation; non-contact nanometer resolution solution topography; and automated X-ray metrology, automated AFM defect-detection, and photomask repair and cleaning equipment. In addition, the company offers advanced optical fluorescence microscopy instruments; products and services to support the multi-omics needs of researchers in translational research, drug, and biomarker discovery; superconducting materials, such as metallic low temperature superconductors; devices and complex tools based on metallic low temperature superconductors; and non-superconducting high technology tools, such as synchrotron and beamline instrumentation. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts.

About Sotera Health

Sotera Health Company engages in the provision of sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Sterigenics, Nordion, and Nelson Labs. It provides mission-critical end-to-end sterilization services, including gamma and electron beam irradiation, and ethylene oxide processing, as well as designs, installs, and maintains gamma irradiation systems. The company also provides microbiological and analytical chemistry testing, as well as technical assistance, regulatory consulting, and advisory services. It serves medical devices, pharmaceuticals, food safety, agricultural products, cancer treatment, and high-performance materials industries, as well as commercial, advanced, and specialty application industries. The company was formerly known as Sotera Health Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Sotera Health Company in October 2020. Sotera Health Company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Broadview Heights, Ohio.