Head to Head Comparison: Precision Optics (NASDAQ:POCI) and IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX)

Precision Optics (NASDAQ:POCI) and IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Precision Optics has a beta of 0.23, suggesting that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IDEXX Laboratories has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Precision Optics and IDEXX Laboratories”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Precision Optics	$19.09 million	2.83	-$5.78 million	($0.63)	-7.83
IDEXX Laboratories	$4.30 billion	10.25	$1.06 billion	$13.58	41.19

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

Profitability

This table compares Precision Optics and IDEXX Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Precision Optics	-17.03%	-37.47%	-19.96%
IDEXX Laboratories	24.63%	70.87%	32.56%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.7% of Precision Optics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.8% of IDEXX Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 14.4% of Precision Optics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of IDEXX Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Precision Optics and IDEXX Laboratories, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Precision Optics	1	0	0	0	1.00
IDEXX Laboratories	0	4	7	0	2.64

IDEXX Laboratories has a consensus target price of $751.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.26%. Given IDEXX Laboratories’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe IDEXX Laboratories is more favorable than Precision Optics.

Summary

IDEXX Laboratories beats Precision Optics on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Precision Optics

Precision Optics Corporation, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells specialized optical and illumination systems and related components primarily in the United States and the European Economic Area. It offers medical instrumentation products, including endoscopes and endocouplers, as well as other custom imaging and illumination products, such as Microprecision lenses and micro medical cameras, and 3D endoscopes for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures by hospitals and physicians. The company also provides components and assemblies for industrial and military use. It markets its products to medical device companies. The company was incorporated in 1982 and is based in Gardner, Massachusetts.

About IDEXX Laboratories

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes products primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Companion Animal Group; Water Quality Products; and Livestock, Poultry and Dairy. It also provides point-of-care veterinary diagnostic products, including instruments, consumables, and rapid assay test kits; veterinary reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services; practice management and diagnostic imaging systems and services for veterinarians; and health monitoring, biological materials testing, and laboratory diagnostic instruments, and services for biomedical research community. In addition, the company offers diagnostic and health-monitoring products for livestock, poultry, and dairy; products that test water for various microbiological contaminants; point-of-care electrolytes and blood gas analyzers; in-clinic chemistry, blood and urine chemistry, hematology, immunoassay, urinalysis, and coagulation analyzers; and SNAP rapid assays test kits. Further, it provides Colilert, Colilert-18, and Colisure tests, which detect the presence of total coliforms and E. coli in water; Enterolert, Pseudalert, Filta-Max and Filta-Max xpress, Legiolert, and Quanti-Tray products; and veterinary software and services for independent veterinary clinics and corporate groups. Additionally, the company offers human medical point-of-care products and laboratory diagnostics services. The company markets its products through marketing, customer service, sales, and technical service groups, as well as through independent distributors and other resellers. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Westbrook, Maine.