Contrasting STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) & LivaNova (NASDAQ:LIVN)

LivaNova (NASDAQ:LIVN) and STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

LivaNova has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, STAAR Surgical has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.6% of LivaNova shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.7% of STAAR Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of LivaNova shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 39.9% of STAAR Surgical shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares LivaNova and STAAR Surgical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LivaNova	12.82%	16.35%	7.76%
STAAR Surgical	1.13%	9.05%	6.99%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for LivaNova and STAAR Surgical, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LivaNova	0	5	6	0	2.55
STAAR Surgical	3	8	2	0	1.92

LivaNova presently has a consensus target price of $84.12, suggesting a potential upside of 6.58%. STAAR Surgical has a consensus target price of $28.40, suggesting a potential upside of 20.24%. Given STAAR Surgical’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe STAAR Surgical is more favorable than LivaNova.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LivaNova and STAAR Surgical”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LivaNova	$1.39 billion	3.13	-$242.47 million	$3.38	23.35
STAAR Surgical	$239.44 million	4.95	-$80.45 million	$0.07	337.43

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

Summary

LivaNova beats STAAR Surgical on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LivaNova

LivaNova PLC, a medical device company, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells therapeutic solutions worldwide. The company operates through Cardiopulmonary, Neuromodulation, and Advanced Circulatory Support segments. The Cardiopulmonary segment develops, produces, and sells cardiopulmonary products, including oxygenators, heart-lung machines, autotransfusion systems, perfusion tubing systems, cannulae, connect, and other related products. The Neuromodulation segment designs, develops, markets, and sells VNS Therapy System, an implantable pulse generator and connective lead that stimulates the vagus nerve; difficult-to-treat depression and drug-resistant epilepsy devices. The Advanced Circulatory Support segment develops, produces, and sells temporary life support products. It serves perfusionists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and other physicians, as well as hospitals, other medical institutions, and healthcare providers. The company sells its products through direct sales representatives and independent distributors. LivaNova PLC was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells implantable lenses for the eye, and companion delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It markets its products to health care providers, including ophthalmic surgeons, vision and surgical centers, hospitals, government facilities, and distributors, as well as products are primarily used by ophthalmologists. The company sells its products directly through its sales representatives in the United States, Japan, Germany, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, as well as through own representatives and independent distributors in China, Korea, India, France, Benelux, Italy, and internationally. STAAR Surgical Company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, California.