Fortive (FTV) Competitors

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) and AMETEK (NYSE:AME) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FTV or AME?

94.9% of Fortive shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of AMETEK shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Fortive shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of AMETEK shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is FTV or AME a better dividend stock?

Fortive pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. AMETEK pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Fortive pays out 14.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AMETEK pays out 20.3% 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. Fortive has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and AMETEK has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. AMETEK is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer FTV or AME?

In the previous week, Fortive had 19 more articles in the media than AMETEK. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for Fortive and 15 mentions for AMETEK. AMETEK's average media sentiment score of 1.71 beat Fortive's score of 0.41 indicating that AMETEK is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fortive	13 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
AMETEK	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts prefer FTV or AME?

Fortive presently has a consensus price target of $77.08, indicating a potential upside of 45.32%. AMETEK has a consensus price target of $197.89, indicating a potential upside of 8.55%. Given Fortive's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Fortive is more favorable than AMETEK.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fortive	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53
AMETEK	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Which has more volatility and risk, FTV or AME?

Fortive has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMETEK has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, FTV or AME?

AMETEK has higher revenue and earnings than Fortive. Fortive is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AMETEK, 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
Fortive	$6.23B	2.89	$832.90M	$2.28	23.26
AMETEK	$6.94B	6.06	$1.38B	$6.11	29.84

Is FTV or AME more profitable?

AMETEK has a net margin of 20.43% compared to Fortive's net margin of 12.90%. AMETEK's return on equity of 16.75% beat Fortive's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fortive	12.90%	13.19%	7.95%
AMETEK	20.43%	16.75%	10.90%

Summary

AMETEK beats Fortive on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.