AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AZN or GSK?

67.8% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.9% of GSK shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of GSK shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to AZN or GSK?

In the previous week, GSK had 1 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for GSK and 8 mentions for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat GSK's score of 0.36 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AstraZeneca	2 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
GSK	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has higher valuation and earnings, 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	£56.50B	3.51	£8.71B	£5.31	2,406.78
GSK	£31.63B	2.05	£2.50B	£0.83	1,952.24

Do analysts recommend AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca presently has a consensus price target of £134.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.05%. GSK has a consensus price target of GBX 1,637.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.42%. Given AstraZeneca's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe AstraZeneca is more favorable than GSK.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
GSK	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has more volatility and risk, AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GSK has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock 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 3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. GSK pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. AstraZeneca pays out 59.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GSK pays out 75.0% 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.

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%

Summary

AstraZeneca beats GSK on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.