Fortive (FTV) Competitors

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) and Fortive (NYSE:FTV) are related large-cap companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Is NDSN or FTV a better dividend stock?

Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Fortive pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Nordson pays out 41.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fortive pays out 10.8% 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. Nordson has increased its dividend for 62 consecutive years and Fortive has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Nordson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer NDSN or FTV?

In the previous week, Fortive had 4 more articles in the media than Nordson. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Fortive and 11 mentions for Nordson. Nordson's average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat Fortive's score of 1.01 indicating that Nordson is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nordson	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fortive	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, NDSN or FTV?

Fortive has higher revenue and earnings than Nordson. Fortive 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
Nordson	$2.69B	4.83	$467.28M	$7.96	29.07
Fortive	$6.23B	2.66	$832.90M	$2.22	22.07

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in NDSN or FTV?

72.1% of Nordson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Fortive shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Nordson shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Fortive shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, NDSN or FTV?

Nordson has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fortive has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer NDSN or FTV?

Nordson presently has a consensus price target of $255.75, suggesting a potential upside of 10.53%. Fortive has a consensus price target of $61.93, suggesting a potential upside of 26.41%. Given Fortive's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Fortive is more favorable than Nordson.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nordson	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Fortive	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.11

Is NDSN or FTV more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.34% compared to Fortive's net margin of 13.62%. Nordson's return on equity of 19.45% beat Fortive's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordson	16.34%	19.45%	9.55%
Fortive	13.62%	11.96%	7.08%

Summary

Nordson beats Fortive on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.