Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC – Get Free Report) and Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Sotera Health and Alignment Healthcare, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Sotera Health | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2.73 |
| Alignment Healthcare | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2.80 |
Sotera Health presently has a consensus price target of $20.33, indicating a potential upside of 30.59%. Alignment Healthcare has a consensus price target of $24.30, indicating a potential upside of 61.25%. Given Alignment Healthcare’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Alignment Healthcare is more favorable than Sotera Health.
Risk & Volatility
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Sotera Health and Alignment Healthcare”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Sotera Health | $1.16 billion | 3.82 | $77.94 million | $0.41 | 37.98 |
| Alignment Healthcare | $3.95 billion | 0.79 | -$720,000.00 | $0.09 | 167.44 |
Sotera Health has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Alignment Healthcare. Sotera Health is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alignment Healthcare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
91.0% of Sotera Health shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Alignment Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. 15.4% of Sotera Health shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Alignment Healthcare shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Sotera Health and Alignment Healthcare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Sotera Health | 9.91% | 39.73% | 7.05% |
| Alignment Healthcare | 0.47% | 11.50% | 1.79% |
Summary
Sotera Health beats Alignment Healthcare on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Alignment Healthcare
Alignment Healthcare, Inc., a tech-enabled Medicare advantage company, operates consumer-centric health care platform for seniors in the United States. It provides customized health care designed to meet the needs of a diverse array of seniors through its Medicare advantage plans. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Orange, California.
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