Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC – Get Free Report) and Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
86.2% of Alignment Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Sotera Health shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Alignment Healthcare shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of Sotera Health shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Alignment Healthcare and Sotera Health, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Alignment Healthcare | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Sotera Health | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2.70 |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Alignment Healthcare and Sotera Health”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Alignment Healthcare | $3.95 billion | 0.71 | -$720,000.00 | $0.09 | 151.56 |
| Sotera Health | $1.16 billion | 3.68 | $77.94 million | $0.41 | 36.63 |
Sotera Health has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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.
Profitability
This table compares Alignment Healthcare and Sotera Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Alignment Healthcare | 0.47% | 11.50% | 1.79% |
| Sotera Health | 9.91% | 39.73% | 7.05% |
Volatility & Risk
Alignment Healthcare has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sotera Health has a beta of 1.79, indicating that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Sotera Health beats Alignment Healthcare on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
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.
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