HP (HPQ) Competitors

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and HP (NYSE:HPQ) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate AAPL or HPQ?

Apple presently has a consensus target price of $248.29, suggesting a potential downside of 2.26%. HP has a consensus target price of $29.38, suggesting a potential upside of 9.00%. Given HP's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe HP is more favorable than Apple.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
HP	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AAPL or HPQ?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than HP. HP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, 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
Apple	$391.04B	9.64	$93.74B	$6.59	38.55
HP	$53.56B	0.47	$2.78B	$2.74	9.84

Is AAPL or HPQ a better dividend stock?

Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. HP pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Apple pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HP pays out 42.3% 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. Apple has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and HP has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. HP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor AAPL or HPQ?

In the previous week, Apple had 192 more articles in the media than HP. MarketBeat recorded 212 mentions for Apple and 20 mentions for HP. HP's average media sentiment score of 1.12 beat Apple's score of 1.10 indicating that HP is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	130 Very Positive mention(s)	20 Positive mention(s)	28 Neutral mention(s)	8 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
HP	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AAPL or HPQ more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to HP's net margin of 4.83%. Apple's return on equity of 170.91% beat HP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	24.30%	170.91%	31.94%
HP	4.83%	-262.03%	7.61%

Which has more volatility and risk, AAPL or HPQ?

Apple has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HP has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AAPL or HPQ?

67.7% of Apple shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.5% of HP shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of HP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Apple beats HP on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.