AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Which has preferable 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	£49.13B	3.35	£6.44B	£3.15	3,370.79
GSK	£31.45B	1.74	£4.03B	£1.13	1,187.16

Does the media refer more to AZN or GSK?

In the previous week, GSK had 2 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for GSK and 1 mentions for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 0.00 beat GSK's score of -0.06 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the media.

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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AZN or GSK?

51.0% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.3% of GSK shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of GSK shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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 4.5%. AstraZeneca pays out 7,428.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. GSK pays out 5,309.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. GSK is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca presently has a consensus target price of £104.12, indicating a potential downside of 1.94%. GSK has a consensus target price of GBX 1,805.83, indicating a potential upside of 34.61%. Given GSK's stronger consensus rating and 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	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56
GSK	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AZN or GSK?

AstraZeneca received 768 more outperform votes than GSK when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.70% of users gave AstraZeneca an outperform vote while only 50.42% of users gave GSK an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AstraZeneca	Outperform Votes 1858 63.70%	Underperform Votes 1059 36.30%
GSK	Outperform Votes 1090 50.42%	Underperform Votes 1072 49.58%

Which has more volatility and risk, AZN or GSK?

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

Is AZN or GSK more profitable?

AstraZeneca has a net margin of 13.11% compared to GSK's net margin of 12.83%. GSK's return on equity of 33.30% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	13.11%	16.74%	7.68%
GSK	12.83%	33.30%	9.56%

Summary

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