Novartis (NVS) Competitors

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) and Novartis (NYSE:NVS) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Is ABT or NVS a better dividend stock?

Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories pays out 68.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Novartis pays out 32.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend for 53 consecutive years and Novartis has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Novartis is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in ABT or NVS?

75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.1% of Novartis shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Novartis 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ABT or NVS?

Abbott Laboratories received 391 more outperform votes than Novartis when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.60% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 61.42% of users gave Novartis an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 918 69.60%	Underperform Votes 401 30.40%
Novartis	Outperform Votes 527 61.42%	Underperform Votes 331 38.58%

Is ABT or NVS more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 31.33% compared to Novartis' net margin of 13.96%. Abbott Laboratories' return on equity of 32.15% beat Novartis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Abbott Laboratories	13.96%	20.32%	10.59%
Novartis	31.33%	32.15%	13.59%

Which has more risk and volatility, ABT or NVS?

Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novartis has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer ABT or NVS?

In the previous week, Novartis had 21 more articles in the media than Abbott Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Novartis and 23 mentions for Abbott Laboratories. Novartis' average media sentiment score of 0.64 beat Abbott Laboratories' score of 0.40 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Abbott Laboratories	9 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novartis	15 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer ABT or NVS?

Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus price target of $121.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.99%. Novartis has a consensus price target of $115.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.02%. Given Abbott Laboratories' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Novartis is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Novartis	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ABT or NVS?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Abbott Laboratories	$40.11B	4.65	$5.72B	$3.21	33.50
Novartis	$45.44B	4.38	$14.85B	$7.41	13.15

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats Novartis on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.