5 Healthcare Stocks Rated Buy – $MSA, $CMN, $ZOLL, $QCOR, $EBS

Analyst recommendations can be a first step to determining if a stock is worth risking your hard-earned money. At any given time, there are thousands of stocks being recommended, and each for different reasons. The ones on this list are in the healthcare industry, have current and quick ratios over 1.5, and are rated by analysts as strong buys.

The current ratio indicates the company’s ability to meet short term debt and other obligations – the higher, the better. A value over 1 means its current assets are worth at least as much as its current liabilities. The quick ratio, or “acid test”, is much the same only current inventories are subtracted from the company’s current assets before looking at its current liabilities in proportion. Again, the higher the better. The target for this metric will vary considerably between industries but, for the most part, a quick ratio of at least 1 is acceptable.

Chuck Royce

Mine Safety Appliances Co (MSA) is a medical appliances and equipment company based in the US. The company has a $1.2B market cap and a forward P/E ratio of 14.21. It has a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.83. So far this year, MSA has returned 7.50%. It has a beta of 1.28 and recently traded at $32.83. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates is a fan of MSA.

Cantel Medical Corp (CMN) is a medical instruments and supplies company based in the US. It has a $483M market cap and a forward P/E ratio of 16.56. It has a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company has returned 17.35% YTD and has a 0.92 beta. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates is also bullish on CMN, as is Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

ZOLL Medical Corp (ZOLL) is a medical appliances and equipment company based in the US. It has a $761M market cap and a forward P/E ratio of 18.09. It has a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has lost -7.66% YTD and has a beta of 1.31. Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital likes ZOLL.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc (QCOR) is a biotechnology company based in the US. It has a $2.58B market cap and a forward P/E ratio of 22.63. QCOR has a current ratio of 4.51 and a quick ratio of 4.40. The company has returned 179.57% YTD, moving from $12.16 earlier in the year to trade at $41.51, its most recent price. The company has a beta of just 0.27. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors Llc had more than $45 million invested in the company at the end of the second quarter.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc (EBS) is a biotechnology company based in the US. It has a $601M market cap and a forward P/E ratio of 13.72. EBS has a 3.43 current ratio and a 3.17 quick ratio. It has lost 28.64% YTD, but analysts are confident in its upside. EBS is currently trading at $17.04. Analysts estimate it will hit $30.50 in the next year. Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital Managemet likes EBS. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates is also a fan of the company.