Cisco Systems (CSCO) Competitors

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Is CSCO or GOOG a better dividend stock?

Cisco Systems pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Alphabet pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Cisco Systems pays out 62.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alphabet pays out 8.9% 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. Cisco Systems has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Alphabet has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Cisco Systems is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, CSCO or GOOG?

Cisco Systems has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alphabet has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, CSCO or GOOG?

Alphabet has higher revenue and earnings than Cisco Systems. Alphabet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cisco Systems, 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
Cisco Systems	$56.65B	4.76	$10.18B	$2.62	26.04
Alphabet	$350.02B	8.31	$100.12B	$9.39	25.61

Is CSCO or GOOG more profitable?

Alphabet has a net margin of 31.12% compared to Cisco Systems' net margin of 18.45%. Alphabet's return on equity of 34.31% beat Cisco Systems' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cisco Systems	18.45%	27.06%	10.20%
Alphabet	31.12%	34.31%	24.88%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of CSCO or GOOG?

73.3% of Cisco Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.3% of Alphabet shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Cisco Systems shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of Alphabet shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate CSCO or GOOG?

Cisco Systems presently has a consensus target price of $74.53, suggesting a potential upside of 9.23%. Alphabet has a consensus target price of $227.56, suggesting a potential downside of 5.36%. Given Cisco Systems' higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cisco Systems is more favorable than Alphabet.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cisco Systems	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Alphabet	3 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	18 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77

Does the media prefer CSCO or GOOG?

In the previous week, Alphabet had 124 more articles in the media than Cisco Systems. MarketBeat recorded 197 mentions for Alphabet and 73 mentions for Cisco Systems. Cisco Systems' average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat Alphabet's score of 0.76 indicating that Cisco Systems is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cisco Systems	48 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alphabet	122 Very Positive mention(s)	18 Positive mention(s)	24 Neutral mention(s)	24 Negative mention(s)	5 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Alphabet beats Cisco Systems on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.