Head-To-Head Survey: SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) versus Labcorp (NYSE:LH)

SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) and Labcorp (NYSE:LH) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Labcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Labcorp shares 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.

Volatility and Risk

SeaStar Medical has a beta of -1.21, indicating that its share price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Labcorp has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares SeaStar Medical and Labcorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SeaStar Medical	-984.60%	-188.47%	-106.42%
Labcorp	6.28%	16.16%	7.62%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SeaStar Medical and Labcorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SeaStar Medical	$1.23 million	13.62	-$12.15 million	($8.30)	-0.51
Labcorp	$13.95 billion	1.60	$876.50 million	$10.46	25.89

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for SeaStar Medical and Labcorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SeaStar Medical	1	0	0	0	1.00
Labcorp	0	3	8	0	2.73

SeaStar Medical presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 42.86%. Labcorp has a consensus target price of $307.20, suggesting a potential upside of 13.44%. Given SeaStar Medical’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe SeaStar Medical is more favorable than Labcorp.

Summary

Labcorp beats SeaStar Medical on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SeaStar Medical

SeaStar Medical Holding Corporation, a medical device company, develops a platform therapy to reduce the consequences of hyperinflammation on vital organs in the United States. The company offers inflammatory response to fend off infections and repair damaged tissue in the body. It is also developing products in various therapeutic areas, including pediatric and adult acute kidney injury on CRRT; cardiorenal syndrome in congestive heart failure; myocardial stunning in end stage renal disease; and hepatorenal syndrome. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

About Labcorp

Labcorp Holdings, Inc. engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.