Critical Survey: AtriCure (ATRC) versus Its Rivals

AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) is one of 511 public companies in the “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare AtriCure to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

AtriCure has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AtriCure’s peers have a beta of 2.57, meaning that their average share price is 157% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.1% of AtriCure shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of AtriCure shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares AtriCure and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
AtriCure	$534.53 million	-$11.45 million	191.77
AtriCure Competitors	$1.90 billion	$136.31 million	5.82

AtriCure’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than AtriCure. AtriCure is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for AtriCure and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AtriCure	1	4	6	1	2.58
AtriCure Competitors	4291	10577	18359	831	2.46

AtriCure currently has a consensus price target of $61.80, suggesting a potential upside of 7.42%. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 20.64%. Given AtriCure’s peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AtriCure has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares AtriCure and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AtriCure	2.52%	4.01%	3.03%
AtriCure Competitors	-304.20%	-315.07%	-22.11%

Summary

AtriCure beats its peers on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

AtriCure Company Profile

AtriCure, Inc. is a medical technology company that develops and sells products for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and other conditions addressed through cardiac surgery. Its technologies are used by surgeons and other medical professionals in hospital settings. The company’s products include surgical ablation systems designed to treat irregular heart rhythms and devices for managing the left atrial appendage, a small pouch in the heart associated with stroke risk in some patients with atrial fibrillation.