Comparing TransMedics Group (NASDAQ:TMDX) and Alphatec (NASDAQ:ATEC)

TransMedics Group (NASDAQ:TMDX) and Alphatec (NASDAQ:ATEC) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for TransMedics Group and Alphatec, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TransMedics Group	0	5	7	0	2.58
Alphatec	1	1	9	0	2.73

TransMedics Group currently has a consensus target price of $134.80, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Alphatec has a consensus target price of $22.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.40%. Given Alphatec’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alphatec is more favorable than TransMedics Group.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TransMedics Group	16.20%	31.42%	10.55%
Alphatec	-21.28%	N/A	-19.75%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TransMedics Group and Alphatec”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TransMedics Group	$566.35 million	8.13	$35.46 million	$2.47	54.57
Alphatec	$611.56 million	5.02	-$162.12 million	($1.04)	-19.88

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

Volatility and Risk

TransMedics Group has a beta of 2.06, suggesting that its stock price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alphatec has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.7% of TransMedics Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.4% of Alphatec shares are held by institutional investors. 7.0% of TransMedics Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.8% of Alphatec shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

TransMedics Group beats Alphatec on 9 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 Alphatec

Alphatec Holdings, Inc., a medical technology company, designs, develops, and advances technologies for the surgical treatment of spinal disorders in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and sells implants and instruments through third-party suppliers. The company offers Alpha InformatiX product platform, including EOS imaging system that provides full-body imaging; VEA alignment mobile application, which leverages EOS technology to more quickly quantify alignment parameters on a mobile device; SafeOp Neural InformatiX System that automates electromyographic and somatosensory evoked potential monitoring; and Valence, an intra-operative system that integrates navigation and robotics into spine procedures, as well as Sigma Prone TransPsoas (PTP) Access and PTP Patient Positioning Systems. It also provides split-blade retractors; Sigma-ALIF Access System, a procedure-specific access system; spinal implants and fixation systems comprising NanoTec surface modifications, Calibrate PSX, and Invictus, as well as various standalone implants for height restoration and stabilization. In addition, the company provides biologics comprising 3D ProFuse Osteoconductive Bioscaffold for ease of handling and better endplate-to-endplate contact; AlphaGRAFT Demineralized Bone Matrix (DBM) comprising demineralized human tissues; AlphaGRAFT DBM Fibers comprising demineralized fibers; AlphaGRAFT Cellular Bone Matrix (CBM), a growth factor-enriched cellular bone matrix; AlphaGRAFT CBM that is delivered in granular, fiber, or structural form; BioCORE Moldable Bioactive Graft, a synthetic mineral-collagen composite matrix that can be molded to fit the bone defect; and Amnioshield Amniotic Tissue Barrier, an allograft for spinal surgical barrier applications. The company sells its products through a network of independent sales agents and direct sales representatives. Alphatec Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.