AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Which has higher valuation and earnings, AZN or NVS?

Novartis has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
AstraZeneca	$54.07B	4.01	$7.04B	$2.49	28.05
Novartis	$50.32B	5.05	$11.94B	$6.40	18.80

Is AZN or NVS more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 24.70% compared to AstraZeneca's net margin of 14.14%. Novartis' return on equity of 39.44% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	14.14%	33.14%	12.83%
Novartis	24.70%	39.44%	16.43%

Does the media refer more to AZN or NVS?

In the previous week, Novartis had 18 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for Novartis and 20 mentions for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat Novartis' score of 1.11 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AstraZeneca	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novartis	24 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, AZN or NVS?

AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novartis has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AZN or NVS a better dividend stock?

AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. AstraZeneca pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Novartis pays out 40.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Do analysts prefer AZN or NVS?

AstraZeneca presently has a consensus target price of $85.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.69%. Novartis has a consensus target price of $123.38, indicating a potential upside of 2.56%. Given AstraZeneca's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe AstraZeneca is more favorable than Novartis.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Novartis	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AZN or NVS?

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

Summary

Novartis beats AstraZeneca on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.