Nordson (NDSN) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer LECO or NDSN?

Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus price target of $222.60, suggesting a potential downside of 0.25%. Nordson has a consensus price target of $254.86, suggesting a potential upside of 16.47%. Given Nordson's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly 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)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is LECO or NDSN more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.51% compared to Lincoln Electric's net margin of 11.44%. Lincoln Electric's return on equity of 39.44% beat Nordson's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln Electric	11.44%	39.44%	14.75%
Nordson	16.51%	19.10%	9.60%

Which has more risk & volatility, LECO or NDSN?

Lincoln Electric has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nordson has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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 1.3%. Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Lincoln Electric pays out 37.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nordson pays out 40.1% 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.

Does the media prefer LECO or NDSN?

In the previous week, Lincoln Electric had 8 more articles in the media than Nordson. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Lincoln Electric and 5 mentions for Nordson. Nordson's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Lincoln Electric's score of 1.00 indicating that Nordson is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lincoln Electric	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Nordson	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of LECO or NDSN?

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

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, 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	3.11	$466.11M	$8.11	27.52
Nordson	$2.70B	4.57	$467.28M	$7.78	28.13

Summary

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