Reviewing Azenta (NASDAQ:AZTA) & Omnicell (NASDAQ:OMCL)
by Kim Johansen · The Markets DailyAzenta (NASDAQ:AZTA – Get Free Report) and Omnicell (NASDAQ:OMCL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Azenta and Omnicell’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Azenta | -10.34% | 1.43% | 1.19% |
| Omnicell | 0.17% | 3.00% | 1.81% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Azenta and Omnicell, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Azenta | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.38 |
| Omnicell | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.63 |
Azenta presently has a consensus price target of $41.33, suggesting a potential upside of 82.97%. Omnicell has a consensus price target of $58.50, suggesting a potential upside of 71.50%. Given Azenta’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Azenta is more favorable than Omnicell.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
99.1% of Azenta shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.7% of Omnicell shares are held by institutional investors. 10.9% of Azenta shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Omnicell shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
Azenta has a beta of 1.47, suggesting that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Omnicell has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Azenta and Omnicell”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Azenta | $595.03 million | 1.75 | -$55.76 million | ($1.35) | -16.73 |
| Omnicell | $1.18 billion | 1.31 | $2.05 million | $0.04 | 852.75 |
Omnicell has higher revenue and earnings than Azenta. Azenta is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Omnicell, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Omnicell beats Azenta on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Azenta
Azenta, Inc. provides biological and chemical compound sample exploration and management solutions for the life sciences market in North America, Africa, China, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates in two reportable segments, Life Sciences Products and Life Sciences Services. The Life Sciences Products segment offers automated cold storage solutions, consumables and instruments, controlled rate thawing devices, and temperature-controlled storage and transportation solutions. This segment also provides sample management solutions, such as consumable vials and tubes, polymerase chain reaction, plates, instruments for supporting workflows, and informatics. The Life Sciences Services segment provides genomic services, that includes gene sequencing and gene synthesis services; and sample repository solutions, such as on-site and off-site sample storage, cold chain logistics, sample transport and collection relocation, bio-processing solutions, disaster recovery and business continuity, and biospecimen procurement services, as well as project management and consulting services for genomic analysis and the management and care of biological samples used in pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, clinical, and academic research, and development sectors. It serves a range of life science customers, including pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, biorepositories, and research institutes. The company was formerly known as Brooks Automation, Inc. and changed its name to Azenta, Inc. in December 2021. Azenta, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.
About Omnicell
Omnicell, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides medication management solutions and adherence tools for healthcare systems and pharmacies the United States and internationally. The company offers point of care automation solutions to improve clinician workflows in patient care areas of the healthcare system; XT Series automated dispensing systems for medications and supplies used in nursing units and other clinical areas of the hospital, as well as specialized automated dispensing systems for operating room; and robotic dispensing systems for handling the stocking and retrieval of boxed medications. It also provides central pharmacy automation solutions; IV compounding robots; and inventory management software. In addition, the company provides single-dose automation solutions that fill and label a variety of patient-specific, single-dose medication blister packaging based on incoming prescriptions; fully automated and semi-automated filling equipment for institutional pharmacies to warrant automated packaging of medications; and medication blister card packaging and packaging supplies to enhance medication adherence in non-acute care settings. Further, it offers EnlivenHealth Patient Engagement, a web-based solutions. The company was formerly known as Omnicell Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Omnicell, Inc. in 2001. Omnicell, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.