Agilent Technologies (A) Competitors

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) are related large-cap companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation and profitability.

Is A or AMAT a better dividend stock?

Agilent Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.99 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Agilent Technologies pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Materials pays out 22.4% 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. Agilent Technologies has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years and Applied Materials has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Applied Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer A or AMAT?

Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $139.77, indicating a potential upside of 13.31%. Applied Materials has a consensus target price of $203.65, indicating a potential upside of 2.89%. Given Agilent Technologies' higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Agilent Technologies is more favorable than Applied Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agilent Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
Applied Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.68

Which has more risk & volatility, A or AMAT?

Agilent Technologies has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Materials has a beta of 1.69, indicating that its stock price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is A or AMAT more profitable?

Applied Materials has a net margin of 24.06% compared to Agilent Technologies' net margin of 17.59%. Applied Materials' return on equity of 40.15% beat Agilent Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agilent Technologies	17.59%	25.92%	13.24%
Applied Materials	24.06%	40.15%	22.42%

Does the media prefer A or AMAT?

In the previous week, Applied Materials had 51 more articles in the media than Agilent Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 72 mentions for Applied Materials and 21 mentions for Agilent Technologies. Applied Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Agilent Technologies' score of 1.01 indicating that Applied Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Agilent Technologies	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Materials	47 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, A or AMAT?

Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Agilent Technologies. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Agilent Technologies, 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
Agilent Technologies	$6.51B	5.38	$1.29B	$4.05	30.46
Applied Materials	$27.18B	5.84	$7.18B	$8.22	24.08

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of A or AMAT?

80.6% of Applied Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Applied Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Applied Materials beats Agilent Technologies on 16 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.