AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and GSK (LON:GSK) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer AZN or GSK?

In the previous week, GSK had 5 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for GSK and 7 mentions for AstraZeneca. GSK's average media sentiment score of 0.32 beat AstraZeneca's score of 0.22 indicating that GSK is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AstraZeneca	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
GSK	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is AZN or GSK more profitable?

AstraZeneca has a net margin of 13.01% compared to GSK's net margin of 8.02%. GSK's return on equity of 18.08% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	13.01%	17.76%	7.68%
GSK	8.02%	18.08%	9.56%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in AZN or GSK?

51.0% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.3% of GSK shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of AstraZeneca shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of GSK shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca currently has a consensus target price of GBX 6,303.50, suggesting a potential downside of 40.27%. GSK has a consensus target price of GBX 1,805.83, suggesting a potential upside of 22.93%. Given GSK's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe GSK is more favorable than AstraZeneca.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
GSK	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca has higher revenue and earnings than GSK. GSK is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AstraZeneca, 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
AstraZeneca	£66.95B	3.03	£8.71B	£364.83	28.93
GSK	£31.14B	1.91	£2.50B	£61.91	23.73

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca received 773 more outperform votes than GSK when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.77% of users gave AstraZeneca an outperform vote while only 50.37% of users gave GSK an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AstraZeneca	Outperform Votes 1864 63.77%	Underperform Votes 1059 36.23%
GSK	Outperform Votes 1091 50.37%	Underperform Votes 1075 49.63%

Which has more risk & volatility, AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.17, meaning that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GSK has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AZN or GSK a better dividend stock?

AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of GBX 234 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. GSK pays an annual dividend of GBX 60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. AstraZeneca pays out 64.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GSK pays out 96.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

AstraZeneca beats GSK on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.