CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) vs. Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) Head to Head Review

Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) and CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.9% of Zimmer Biomet shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Zimmer Biomet shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of CONMED shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Zimmer Biomet and CONMED, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zimmer Biomet	1	15	6	0	2.23
CONMED	1	7	0	0	1.88

Zimmer Biomet currently has a consensus target price of $103.33, indicating a potential upside of 15.60%. CONMED has a consensus target price of $41.40, indicating a potential downside of 6.63%. Given Zimmer Biomet’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zimmer Biomet is more favorable than CONMED.

Volatility and Risk

Zimmer Biomet has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CONMED has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zimmer Biomet and CONMED”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zimmer Biomet	$8.23 billion	2.07	$705.20 million	$4.11	21.75
CONMED	$1.37 billion	0.97	$47.06 million	$1.85	23.97

Zimmer Biomet has higher revenue and earnings than CONMED. Zimmer Biomet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CONMED, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Zimmer Biomet and CONMED’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zimmer Biomet	9.48%	13.12%	7.23%
CONMED	4.12%	14.31%	6.33%

Summary

Zimmer Biomet beats CONMED on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zimmer Biomet

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a medical technology company worldwide. The company designs, manufactures, and markets orthopedic reconstructive products, such as knee and hip products; S.E.T. products, including sports medicine, biologics, foot and ankle, extremities, and trauma products; craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products comprising face and skull reconstruction products, as well as products that fixate and stabilize the bones of the chest to facilitate healing or reconstruction after open heart surgery, trauma, or for deformities of the chest. It also offers robotic, surgical, and bone cement products. The company's products and solutions are used to treat patients suffering from disorders of, or injuries to, bones, joints, or supporting soft tissues. It serves orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, hospitals, stocking distributors, healthcare dealers, and other specialists, as well as agents, healthcare purchasing organizations, or buying groups. The company was formerly known as Zimmer Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. in June 2015. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.

About CONMED

CONMED Corporation, a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and sells surgical devices and related equipment for surgical procedures worldwide. The company offers orthopedic surgery products, including BioBrace, TruShot with Y-Knot All-In-One Soft Tissue Fixation System, Y-knot All-Suture Anchors, and Agro Knotless Suture Anchors, which provide clinical solutions to orthopedic surgeons for the augmentation and repair of soft tissue injuries, as well as provides supporting products that enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive sports medicine surgeries. It markets orthopedic surgery products under the Hall, CONMED Linvatec, Concept, and Shutt brands. The company also provides battery-powered and autoclavable bone power tool systems for use in orthopedic, arthroscopic, oral/maxillofacial, podiatric, spinal, and cardiothoracic surgeries under Hall surgical brand name. In addition, it offers general surgery products, including clinical insufflation systems under AirSeal brand; smoke removal devices under Buffalo Filter brand; endomechanical products, such as tissue retrieval bags, trocars, suction irrigation devices, graspers, scissors, and dissectors used in minimally invasive surgeries; and electrosurgical solution comprising monopolar and bipolar generators, argon beam coagulation generators, handpieces, smoke management systems and other accessories. Further, the company provides endoscopic technologies, including therapeutic and diagnostic products for use in gastroenterology procedures, and products for the treatment of diseases of the dilatation, hemostasis, biliary, structure management, and infection prevention and patient monitoring, including ECG and EEG electrodes, and cardiac defibrillation pads. It markets its products directly to hospitals, surgery centers, and other healthcare institutions, as well as through medical specialty distributors. CONMED Corporation was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Largo, Florida.