Comparing Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) & Nihon Kohden (OTCMKTS:NHNKY)

Nihon Kohden (OTCMKTS:NHNKY) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Nihon Kohden has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.1% of Nihon Kohden shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Nihon Kohden and Intuitive Surgical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nihon Kohden	$1.56 billion	1.13	$95.79 million	$0.55	19.13
Intuitive Surgical	$10.06 billion	15.02	$2.86 billion	$8.73	49.01

Intuitive Surgical has higher revenue and earnings than Nihon Kohden. Nihon Kohden is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Nihon Kohden and Intuitive Surgical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nihon Kohden	5.90%	9.17%	6.47%
Intuitive Surgical	28.45%	16.91%	14.83%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Nihon Kohden and Intuitive Surgical, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nihon Kohden	0	2	0	0	2.00
Intuitive Surgical	1	7	22	1	2.74

Intuitive Surgical has a consensus price target of $498.83, suggesting a potential upside of 16.59%. Given Intuitive Surgical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Intuitive Surgical is more favorable than Nihon Kohden.

Summary

Intuitive Surgical beats Nihon Kohden on 15 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nihon Kohden

Nihon Kohden Corporation engages in development, manufacturing, sale, maintenance, and consultation of medical electronic equipment, and related systems and products in Japan, Americas, Europe, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers physiological measuring equipment comprising electrocardiographs, electroencephalographs, and polygraphs for Cath-labs; patient monitoring systems, such as beside and central monitors; and treatment equipment including defibrillators, automated external defibrillators, ventilators, and pacemakers. The company also provides medical support system, which includes diagnostic and clinical information system; and in-vitro diagnostic equipment comprising hematology and clinical chemistry analyzers. In addition, it operates insurance brokerage and technology licensing business. The company was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Shinjuku, Japan.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets products that enable physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality of and access to minimally invasive care in the United States and internationally. The company offers the da Vinci Surgical System that enables complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach; and Ion endoluminal system, which extends its commercial offerings beyond surgery into diagnostic procedures enabling minimally invasive biopsies in the lung. It also provides a suite of stapling, energy, and core instrumentation for its multi-port da Vinci surgical systems; progressive learning pathways to support the use of its technology; infrastructure of service and support specialists, a complement of services to its customers, including installation, repair, maintenance, 24/7 technical support, and proactive system health monitoring; and integrated digital capabilities providing connected offerings, streamlining performance for hospitals with program-enhancing insights. The company sells its products through direct sales organizations, such as capital and clinical sales teams. It has a collaboration agreement with FluoGuide A/S for head & neck cancer. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.