AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Is GSK or AZN a better dividend stock?

GSK pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of GBX 3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. GSK pays out 75.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AstraZeneca pays out 59.0% 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, GSK or AZN?

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

Which has better valuation and earnings, GSK or AZN?

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
GSK	£31.63B	1.87	£2.50B	£0.83	1,774.49
AstraZeneca	£56.50B	3.12	£8.71B	£5.31	2,140.49

Do institutionals & insiders believe in GSK or AZN?

56.9% of GSK shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of GSK shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of AstraZeneca shares are held by company 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 media prefer GSK or AZN?

In the previous week, GSK had 7 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for GSK and 4 mentions for AstraZeneca. GSK's average media sentiment score of 0.71 beat AstraZeneca's score of 0.58 indicating that GSK is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GSK	4 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AstraZeneca	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is GSK or AZN 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
GSK	8.02%	18.08%	9.56%
AstraZeneca	13.01%	17.76%	7.68%

Do analysts recommend GSK or AZN?

GSK presently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,637.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.58%. AstraZeneca has a consensus price target of £131.75, suggesting a potential upside of 15.92%. Given AstraZeneca's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AstraZeneca is more favorable than GSK.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GSK	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Summary

AstraZeneca beats GSK on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.