Novartis (NVS) Competitors

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, institutional ownership, community ranking and valuation.

Do analysts recommend NVS or ABT?

Novartis currently has a consensus price target of $115.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.02%. Abbott Laboratories has a consensus price target of $121.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.01%. Given Novartis' higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Novartis is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novartis	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is NVS or ABT more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 31.33% compared to Abbott Laboratories' net margin of 13.96%. Novartis' return on equity of 32.15% beat Abbott Laboratories' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novartis	31.33%	32.15%	13.59%
Abbott Laboratories	13.96%	20.32%	10.59%

Which has more risk and volatility, NVS or ABT?

Novartis has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NVS or ABT?

Abbott Laboratories received 391 more outperform votes than Novartis when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.60% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 61.42% of users gave Novartis an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Novartis	Outperform Votes 527 61.42%	Underperform Votes 331 38.58%
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 918 69.60%	Underperform Votes 401 30.40%

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

13.1% of Novartis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Novartis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Abbott Laboratories shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, NVS or ABT?

Novartis has higher revenue and earnings than Abbott Laboratories. Novartis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Abbott Laboratories, 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	$45.44B	4.38	$14.85B	$7.41	13.15
Abbott Laboratories	$40.11B	4.65	$5.72B	$3.21	33.49

Does the media prefer NVS or ABT?

In the previous week, Novartis had 20 more articles in the media than Abbott Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Novartis and 23 mentions for Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 0.53 beat Novartis' score of 0.43 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novartis	14 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Abbott Laboratories	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NVS or ABT a better dividend stock?

Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Novartis pays out 32.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Abbott Laboratories pays out 68.5% 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. Novartis is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Novartis and Abbott Laboratories tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.