Stryker (SYK) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus target price of $142.59, suggesting a potential upside of 8.88%. Stryker has a consensus target price of $424.56, suggesting a potential upside of 13.34%. Given Stryker's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Stryker is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84
Stryker	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Is ABT or SYK a better dividend stock?

Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Stryker pays an annual dividend of $3.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Abbott Laboratories pays out 30.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stryker pays out 43.3% 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. Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years and Stryker has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Abbott Laboratories is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories received 17 more outperform votes than Stryker when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.00% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 64.53% of users gave Stryker an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 952 70.00%	Underperform Votes 408 30.00%
Stryker	Outperform Votes 935 64.53%	Underperform Votes 514 35.47%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ABT or SYK?

75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.1% of Stryker shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Abbott Laboratories shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Stryker shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to ABT or SYK?

In the previous week, Abbott Laboratories had 8 more articles in the media than Stryker. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Abbott Laboratories and 37 mentions for Stryker. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 1.22 beat Stryker's score of 1.17 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Abbott Laboratories	34 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Stryker	25 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ABT or SYK more profitable?

Abbott Laboratories has a net margin of 31.95% compared to Stryker's net margin of 13.25%. Stryker's return on equity of 23.58% beat Abbott Laboratories' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Abbott Laboratories	31.95%	20.74%	11.19%
Stryker	13.25%	23.58%	11.37%

Which has better valuation and earnings, ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Stryker. Abbott Laboratories is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stryker, 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
Abbott Laboratories	$41.95B	5.41	$13.40B	$7.71	16.99
Stryker	$22.60B	6.33	$2.99B	$7.76	48.27

Which has more volatility & risk, ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stryker has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats Stryker on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.