Comparing Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) and Brainsway (NASDAQ:BWAY)

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) and Brainsway (NASDAQ:BWAY) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Becton, Dickinson and Company and Brainsway, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Becton, Dickinson and Company	1	8	8	1	2.50
Brainsway	0	2	4	0	2.67

Becton, Dickinson and Company presently has a consensus target price of $197.47, indicating a potential downside of 9.40%. Brainsway has a consensus target price of $18.20, indicating a potential upside of 80.02%. Given Brainsway’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Brainsway is more favorable than Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Risk & Volatility

Becton, Dickinson and Company has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brainsway has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.0% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.1% of Brainsway shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.0% of Brainsway shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Becton, Dickinson and Company and Brainsway’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Becton, Dickinson and Company	5.66%	14.90%	7.09%
Brainsway	15.54%	13.09%	8.50%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Becton, Dickinson and Company and Brainsway”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Becton, Dickinson and Company	$19.46 billion	3.09	$1.15 billion	$4.14	52.64
Brainsway	$65.33 million	6.23	$7.57 million	$0.50	20.22

Becton, Dickinson and Company has higher revenue and earnings than Brainsway. Brainsway is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Becton, Dickinson and Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Becton, Dickinson and Company beats Brainsway on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a global medical technology company that develops and manufactures products used in healthcare, clinical laboratories and life sciences research. Founded in 1897, the company has a long history of producing medical devices and supplies. BD’s products include syringes, needles, infusion systems and medication-management technologies, as well as equipment and supplies for collecting and processing clinical specimens. The company also provides diagnostic systems, laboratory instruments and tools used in areas such as cell analysis and biomedical research.

About Brainsway

BrainsWay Ltd. is an Israel-based medical technology company that develops and commercializes noninvasive treatments for mental health and neurological conditions. Its core technology, Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Deep TMS), uses electromagnetic fields and specially designed H-Coils to stimulate brain regions associated with specific conditions. The company’s Deep TMS systems are used for conditions including major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and smoking addiction.