Critical Comparison: INVO Fertility (NASDAQ:IVF) vs. HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA)
by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets DailyINVO Fertility (NASDAQ:IVF – Get Free Report) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares INVO Fertility and HCA Healthcare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| INVO Fertility | -116.29% | -85.54% | -31.05% |
| HCA Healthcare | 8.77% | -244.79% | 11.10% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for INVO Fertility and HCA Healthcare, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| INVO Fertility | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.50 |
| HCA Healthcare | 1 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 2.57 |
INVO Fertility presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,963.77%. HCA Healthcare has a consensus price target of $462.64, indicating a potential upside of 8.22%. Given INVO Fertility’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe INVO Fertility is more favorable than HCA Healthcare.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares INVO Fertility and HCA Healthcare”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| INVO Fertility | $6.84 million | 0.36 | -$25.13 million | ($33.83) | -0.03 |
| HCA Healthcare | $75.60 billion | 1.22 | $6.78 billion | $29.87 | 14.31 |
HCA Healthcare has higher revenue and earnings than INVO Fertility. INVO Fertility is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCA Healthcare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
12.0% of INVO Fertility shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of INVO Fertility shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of HCA Healthcare shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
INVO Fertility has a beta of 2.34, meaning that its stock price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
HCA Healthcare beats INVO Fertility on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About INVO Fertility
INVO Bioscience, Inc., together with its subsidiary, a healthcare services fertility company, provides assisted reproductive technology solutions worldwide. It offers INVOcell, a medical device that allows fertilization and early embryo development to take place in vivo within the woman’s body. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Sarasota, Florida.
About HCA Healthcare
HCA Healthcare, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates hospitals and related healthcare entities in the United States. It operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy. The company also operates outpatient health care facilities consisting of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, physician practices, and various other facilities. In addition, it operates behavioral hospitals, which provide therapeutic programs comprising child, adolescent and adult psychiatric care, adolescent and adult alcohol, drug abuse treatment, and counseling services. The company was formerly known as HCA Holdings, Inc. HCA Healthcare, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.