AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Does the media favor NVS or AZN?

In the previous week, Novartis had 9 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Novartis and 26 mentions for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Novartis' score of 0.96 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novartis	17 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AstraZeneca	19 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend NVS or AZN?

Novartis currently has a consensus price target of $123.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.84%. AstraZeneca has a consensus price target of $86.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.34%. Given AstraZeneca's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AstraZeneca is more favorable than Novartis.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novartis	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.09
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Is NVS or AZN a better dividend stock?

Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $1.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Novartis pays out 37.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AstraZeneca pays out 38.0% 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. Novartis is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, NVS or AZN?

Novartis has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AstraZeneca. Novartis 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
Novartis	$55.19B	4.64	$11.94B	$6.87	17.65
AstraZeneca	$56.50B	4.28	$7.04B	$2.66	29.30

Is NVS or AZN more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 25.64% compared to AstraZeneca's net margin of 14.68%. Novartis' return on equity of 41.08% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novartis	25.64%	41.08%	16.83%
AstraZeneca	14.68%	32.84%	12.87%

Which has more risk & volatility, NVS or AZN?

Novartis has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NVS or AZN?

13.1% of Novartis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.4% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Novartis shares are held 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.

Summary

Novartis beats AstraZeneca on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.