Head-To-Head Analysis: Milestone Scientific (MLSS) vs. The Competition

Milestone Scientific (NYSE:MLSS) is one of 511 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Milestone Scientific to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Milestone Scientific has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Milestone Scientific’s competitors have a beta of 2.57, suggesting that their average share price is 157% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Milestone Scientific and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Milestone Scientific	0	0	1	0	3.00
Milestone Scientific Competitors	4295	10582	18367	832	2.46

Milestone Scientific presently has a consensus price target of $1.00, suggesting a potential upside of 244.83%. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 21.48%. Given Milestone Scientific’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Milestone Scientific is more favorable than its competitors.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.8% of Milestone Scientific shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are held by institutional investors. 9.2% of Milestone Scientific shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are held 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Milestone Scientific and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Milestone Scientific	$9.42 million	-$6.93 million	-7.25
Milestone Scientific Competitors	$1.87 billion	$136.27 million	5.88

Milestone Scientific’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Milestone Scientific. Milestone Scientific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Milestone Scientific and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Milestone Scientific	-52.01%	-60.26%	-40.23%
Milestone Scientific Competitors	-303.57%	-175.14%	-22.20%

Summary

Milestone Scientific competitors beat Milestone Scientific on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Milestone Scientific Company Profile

Milestone Scientific Inc. is a medical device company that develops and commercializes computer-controlled drug-delivery systems. Its technology is designed to provide clinicians with precise control over the flow and pressure of injectable medications, with the goal of improving administration, patient comfort and clinical outcomes. The company’s primary products serve the dental market. These include the CompuDent system and the STA Single Tooth Anesthesia System, which are intended to support computer-controlled local anesthesia delivery for a range of dental procedures.