IDEX (IEX) Competitors

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

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

72.1% of Nordson shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of IDEX shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Nordson shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of IDEX shares are owned by company 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, NDSN or IEX?

Nordson has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IDEX has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, NDSN or IEX?

IDEX has higher revenue and earnings than Nordson. IDEX 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	4.93	$467.28M	$7.96	29.64
IDEX	$3.27B	3.88	$505M	$6.19	27.18

Is NDSN or IEX more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.34% compared to IDEX's net margin of 14.05%. Nordson's return on equity of 19.45% beat IDEX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordson	16.34%	19.45%	9.55%
IDEX	14.05%	15.16%	8.60%

Does the media prefer NDSN or IEX?

In the previous week, IDEX had 1 more articles in the media than Nordson. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for IDEX and 12 mentions for Nordson. IDEX's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat Nordson's score of 0.67 indicating that IDEX is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nordson	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
IDEX	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer NDSN or IEX?

Nordson presently has a consensus target price of $255.75, suggesting a potential upside of 8.39%. IDEX has a consensus target price of $199.57, suggesting a potential upside of 18.61%. Given IDEX's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe IDEX 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
IDEX	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Is NDSN or IEX a better dividend stock?

Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. IDEX pays an annual dividend of $2.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Nordson pays out 41.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. IDEX pays out 45.9% 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 raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years and IDEX has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Summary

Nordson and IDEX tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.