Nordson (NDSN) Competitors

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) and Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, earnings and risk.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, LECO or NDSN?

Nordson has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lincoln Electric. Lincoln Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nordson, 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
Lincoln Electric	$4.01B	3.34	$466.11M	$8.90	27.26
Nordson	$2.69B	4.70	$467.28M	$7.96	28.28

Is LECO or NDSN a better dividend stock?

Lincoln Electric pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Lincoln Electric pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nordson pays out 39.2% 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. Lincoln Electric has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Nordson has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years. Nordson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is LECO or NDSN more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.34% compared to Lincoln Electric's net margin of 12.27%. Lincoln Electric's return on equity of 39.79% beat Nordson's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln Electric	12.27%	39.79%	14.74%
Nordson	16.34%	19.45%	9.55%

Which has more volatility & risk, LECO or NDSN?

Lincoln Electric has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nordson has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer LECO or NDSN?

In the previous week, Nordson had 7 more articles in the media than Lincoln Electric. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Nordson and 14 mentions for Lincoln Electric. Lincoln Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat Nordson's score of 1.10 indicating that Lincoln Electric is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lincoln Electric	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Nordson	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer LECO or NDSN?

Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus target price of $231.40, suggesting a potential downside of 4.63%. Nordson has a consensus target price of $255.75, suggesting a potential upside of 13.62%. Given Nordson's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nordson is more favorable than Lincoln Electric.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln Electric	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Nordson	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in LECO or NDSN?

79.6% of Lincoln Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.1% of Nordson shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Lincoln Electric shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Nordson shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Nordson beats Lincoln Electric on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.