Comparing Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) & EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme (OTCMKTS:ESLOY)

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) and EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme (OTCMKTS:ESLOY) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Avantor and EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avantor	5.28%	12.40%	5.11%
EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Avantor has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Avantor and EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avantor	$6.83 billion	2.36	$321.10 million	$0.39	60.82
EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme	$27.48 billion	3.96	$2.48 billion	N/A	N/A

EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme has higher revenue and earnings than Avantor.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Avantor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Avantor shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Avantor and EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avantor	0	3	12	0	2.80
EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme	0	0	0	0	N/A

Avantor presently has a consensus price target of $28.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.04%. Given Avantor’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Avantor is more favorable than EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme.

Summary

Avantor beats EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc. engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips. It also provides equipment and instrumentation products, including filtration systems, virus inactivation systems, incubators, analytical instruments, evaporators, ultra-low-temperature freezers, biological safety cabinets, and critical environment supplies. In addition, the company offers services and specialty procurements comprising onsite lab and production, clinical, equipment, procurement and sourcing, and biopharmaceutical material scale-up and development services. Further, it provides scientific research support services, such as DNA extraction, bioreactor servicing, clinical and biorepository, and compound management services. The company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

About EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme

EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme designs, manufactures, and distributes ophthalmic lenses, frames, and sunglasses in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and North America. It operates through Professional Solutions and Direct to Consumer segments. The company offers lens under the Essilor, Varilux, Crizal, Eyezen, Stellest, Xperio, Transitions, Ray-Ban, Oakley, Barberini, KODAK Lens, Nikon, Shamir, eyexpert, iWear, Humanware, and Optifog brands. It also provides finishing equipment, vision performance screening, eye examination and refractions, fitting parameter measurements, and small tools and consumables under the Essilor Instruments brand; high-tech equipment for optical surfacing, polishing, measuring, coating, and finishing, as well as consumables, tools, and services under the Satisloh brand. In addition, the company provides eyewear products under the Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Vogue Eyewear, Arnette, Alain Mikli, Costa, Bliz, Native, Luxottica, Sferoflex, Bolon, Molsion, DbyD, and Unofficial and Seen, as well as other Licensed brands. In addition, the company designs, develops, markets, and maintains lens edging and mounting instruments for opticians and prescription laboratories; and optometry instruments for eyecare professionals, schools, occupational medicine centers, military, and other institutions. It wholesales its products to independent opticians, distributors, third-party e-commerce platforms, and large retail chains in the eyecare and eyewear industry; and sells directly to consumers through the network of brick and mortar retail network and its online channels. The company was formerly known as Essilor International Société Anonyme and changed its name to EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme in October 2018. EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in Paris, France.