Novartis (NVS) Competitors

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Do analysts rate NVS or NVO?

Novartis currently has a consensus target price of $123.67, indicating a potential upside of 1.45%. Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus target price of $112.00, indicating a potential upside of 62.20%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than Novartis.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novartis	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Novo Nordisk A/S	2 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.27

Is NVS or NVO a better dividend stock?

Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Novartis pays out 40.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 48.5% 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.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, NVS or NVO?

Novo Nordisk A/S has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Novartis. Novartis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Novo Nordisk A/S, 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
Novartis	$50.32B	5.12	$11.94B	$6.40	19.05
Novo Nordisk A/S	$42.12B	7.32	$14.64B	$3.38	20.43

Which has more volatility & risk, NVS or NVO?

Novartis has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NVS or NVO more profitable?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a net margin of 34.52% compared to Novartis' net margin of 24.70%. Novo Nordisk A/S's return on equity of 80.94% beat Novartis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novartis	24.70%	39.44%	16.43%
Novo Nordisk A/S	34.52%	80.94%	24.23%

Does the media refer more to NVS or NVO?

In the previous week, Novo Nordisk A/S had 5 more articles in the media than Novartis. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Novo Nordisk A/S and 26 mentions for Novartis. Novo Nordisk A/S's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Novartis' score of 0.94 indicating that Novo Nordisk A/S is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novartis	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novo Nordisk A/S	25 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NVS or NVO?

13.1% of Novartis shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Novartis shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats Novartis on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.