GSK (GSK) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, GSK or NVS?

Novartis has higher revenue and earnings than GSK. Novartis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GSK, 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
GSK	$40.10B	1.96	$3.29B	$1.94	19.78
Novartis	$50.32B	5.12	$11.94B	$6.40	19.06

Which has more risk and volatility, GSK or NVS?

GSK has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% 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 GSK or NVS a better dividend stock?

GSK pays an annual dividend of $1.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. GSK pays out 87.1% 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.

Does the media favor GSK or NVS?

In the previous week, Novartis had 7 more articles in the media than GSK. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Novartis and 18 mentions for GSK. Novartis' average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat GSK's score of 0.37 indicating that Novartis is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GSK	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Novartis	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in GSK or NVS?

15.7% of GSK shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.1% of Novartis shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.0% of GSK shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Novartis shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer GSK or NVS?

GSK presently has a consensus price target of $37.38, suggesting a potential downside of 2.61%. Novartis has a consensus price target of $123.67, suggesting a potential upside of 1.37%. Given Novartis' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Novartis is more favorable than GSK.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GSK	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.10
Novartis	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is GSK or NVS more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 24.70% compared to GSK's net margin of 9.89%. GSK's return on equity of 48.82% beat Novartis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GSK	9.89%	48.82%	11.15%
Novartis	24.70%	39.44%	16.43%

Summary

Novartis beats GSK on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.