Paragon 28 (NYSE:FNA) and iRhythm Technologies (NASDAQ:IRTC) Head to Head Contrast

iRhythm Technologies (NASDAQ:IRTC) and Paragon 28 (NYSE:FNA) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for iRhythm Technologies and Paragon 28, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
iRhythm Technologies	0	2	9	0	2.82
Paragon 28	0	4	2	0	2.33

iRhythm Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $108.45, suggesting a potential upside of 1.46%. Paragon 28 has a consensus target price of $14.60, suggesting a potential upside of 11.88%. Given Paragon 28’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Paragon 28 is more favorable than iRhythm Technologies.

Risk and Volatility

iRhythm Technologies has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paragon 28 has a beta of 1.54, meaning that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares iRhythm Technologies and Paragon 28’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
iRhythm Technologies	-26.90%	-120.86%	-17.96%
Paragon 28	-25.31%	-37.90%	-18.22%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares iRhythm Technologies and Paragon 28″s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
iRhythm Technologies	$492.68 million	6.79	-$123.41 million	($4.86)	-21.99
Paragon 28	$216.39 million	5.05	-$57.53 million	($0.74)	-17.63

Paragon 28 has lower revenue, but higher earnings than iRhythm Technologies. iRhythm Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paragon 28, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.6% of Paragon 28 shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of iRhythm Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.3% of Paragon 28 shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Paragon 28 beats iRhythm Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About iRhythm Technologies

iRhythm Technologies, Inc., a digital healthcare company, engages in the design, development, and commercialization of device-based technology to provide ambulatory cardiac monitoring services to diagnose arrhythmias in the United States. It offers Zio services, an ambulatory monitoring solution, including long-term and short-term continuous monitoring and mobile cardiac telemetry monitoring services. The company also provides the Zio Monitor System, a prescription-only, remote electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system that consists of a patch ECG monitor that records the electric signal from the heart continuously for up to 14 days and the Zio ECG Utilization Software System, which supports the capture and analysis of ECG data recorded by the Zio Monitor patch at the end of the wear period, including specific arrhythmia events detected by the ZEUS System; the Zio XT System is the previous generation of the Zio Monitor System and is a prescription-only, remote ECG monitoring system that consists of the Zio XT patch that records the electric signal from the heart continuously for up to 14 days; and the Zio AT system, a prescription-only, remote ECG monitoring system that similarly consists of the Zio AT patch that records the electric signal from the heart continuously for up to 14 days and the ZEUS System, but which also incorporates the Zio AT wireless gateway that provides connectivity between the Zio AT patch and the ZEUS System during the patient wear period. It has a development collaboration agreement with Verily Life Sciences LLC and Verity Ireland Limited to develop various next-generation atrial fibrillation screening, detection, or monitoring products. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Paragon 28

Paragon 28, Inc. develops, distributes, and sells foot and ankle surgical systems in the United States and internationally. It offers plating systems, including gorilla plating systems, such as lisfranc, lapidus, lateral column, calcaneus slide, and naviculocuneiform (NC) fusion plating systems; baby gorilla plate-specific screws, navicular fracture plates, and 5th metatarsal hook plates; and silverback plating systems. The company also provides precision guide technology for various procedures consisting of fusion, a procedure to address bunion deformities that fuses two bones on the big toe; first tarsometatarsal arthrodesis; and metatarsal osteotomy for bunion correction, medial column beaming for charcot foot reconstruction, ankle fusion plating, and NC joint arthrodesis. In addition, it offers monster, mini monster, and joust beaming screw systems for use in bone reconstruction, osteotomy, arthrodesis, joint fusion, ligament fixation, fracture repair, and fracture fixation; APEX 3D total ankle replacement systems; and total talus spacers to replace the talus and bone in the ankle that connects the leg and foot. Further, the company provides forefoot or hallux valgus correction systems, including phantom intramedullary nail systems for the treatment of severe hallux valgus; and various orthobiologics comprising bone wedges, grafts, demineralized bone matrices, bone void fillers, synthetic materials, amniotic products, and a biocompatible collagen matrix, as well as PRESERVE bone graft systems for homologous application. Additionally, it offers soft tissue fixation systems, titanium sprayed polyetheretherketone implants, nitinol staple systems, stabilization systems, and curved instruments. The company serves hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers through a network of sales representatives and stocking distributors. Paragon 28, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.