IDEX (IEX) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, IEX or NDSN?

IDEX has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nordson has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend IEX or NDSN?

IDEX presently has a consensus target price of $214.38, suggesting a potential upside of 19.26%. Nordson has a consensus target price of $254.86, suggesting a potential upside of 19.65%. Given Nordson's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Nordson is more favorable than IDEX.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IDEX	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Nordson	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is IEX or NDSN a better dividend stock?

IDEX pays an annual dividend of $2.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. IDEX pays out 45.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nordson pays out 40.1% 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. IDEX has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Nordson has increased its dividend for 62 consecutive years.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of IEX or NDSN?

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

Which has better earnings & valuation, IEX or NDSN?

IDEX has higher revenue and earnings than Nordson. Nordson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IDEX, 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
IDEX	$3.27B	4.15	$505M	$6.31	28.49
Nordson	$2.69B	4.47	$467.28M	$7.78	27.38

Is IEX or NDSN more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.51% compared to IDEX's net margin of 14.60%. Nordson's return on equity of 19.10% beat IDEX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IDEX	14.60%	15.51%	8.91%
Nordson	16.51%	19.10%	9.60%

Does the media prefer IEX or NDSN?

In the previous week, IDEX and IDEX both had 13 articles in the media. Nordson's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat IDEX's score of 1.16 indicating that Nordson is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
IDEX	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Nordson	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Nordson beats IDEX on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.