Critical Review: Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) and DocGo (NASDAQ:DCGO)

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) and DocGo (NASDAQ:DCGO) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Surgery Partners and DocGo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Surgery Partners	-5.21%	2.41%	0.96%
DocGo	-14.02%	-9.11%	-6.44%

Volatility & Risk

Surgery Partners has a beta of 1.95, indicating that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DocGo has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.4% of DocGo shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Surgery Partners shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of DocGo shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Surgery Partners and DocGo”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Surgery Partners	$3.11 billion	0.64	-$168.10 million	($1.36)	-11.40
DocGo	$616.55 million	0.11	$19.99 million	($0.52)	-1.38

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Surgery Partners and DocGo, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Surgery Partners	1	2	7	0	2.60
DocGo	1	3	1	0	2.00

Surgery Partners presently has a consensus price target of $27.11, suggesting a potential upside of 74.91%. DocGo has a consensus price target of $2.25, suggesting a potential upside of 213.37%. Given DocGo’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe DocGo is more favorable than Surgery Partners.

Summary

Surgery Partners beats DocGo on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Surgery Partners

Surgery Partners, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a network of surgical facilities and ancillary services in the United States. The company provides ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals that offer non-emergency surgical procedures in various specialties, including orthopedics and pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and general surgery. It offers diagnostic imaging, laboratory, obstetrics, oncology, pharmacy, physical therapy, and wound care; and ancillary services, including multi-specialty physician practices, urgent care facilities, and anesthesia services. In addition, it offers single- and multi-specialty facilities. Surgery Partners, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

About DocGo

DocGo Inc. provides mobile health and medical transportation services for various health care providers in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company's transportation services include emergency response services; and non-emergency transport services comprise ambulance and wheelchair transportation services. It also offers mobile health services through its platform that are performed at home, offices, and other locations; event services, which include on-site healthcare support at sporting events and concerts; and total care management solutions comprising healthcare services and ancillary services, such as shelter. DocGo Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in New York, New York.