Xylem (XYL) Competitors

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) and Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) are both large-cap industrial machinery companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate XYL or NDSN?

Xylem currently has a consensus target price of $151.57, indicating a potential upside of 5.68%. Nordson has a consensus target price of $254.86, indicating a potential upside of 20.18%. Given Nordson's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Nordson is more favorable than Xylem.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xylem	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Nordson	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, XYL or NDSN?

Xylem has higher revenue and earnings than Nordson. Nordson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xylem, 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
Xylem	$8.56B	4.08	$890M	$3.85	37.25
Nordson	$2.69B	4.45	$467.28M	$7.78	27.26

Does the media refer more to XYL or NDSN?

In the previous week, Xylem had 32 more articles in the media than Nordson. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for Xylem and 8 mentions for Nordson. Nordson's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Xylem's score of 1.00 indicating that Nordson is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Xylem	25 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Nordson	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is XYL or NDSN a better dividend stock?

Xylem pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Xylem pays out 41.6% 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. Xylem has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Nordson has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years. Nordson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

88.0% of Xylem shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.1% of Nordson shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Xylem shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Nordson shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, XYL or NDSN?

Xylem has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nordson has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is XYL or NDSN more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.51% compared to Xylem's net margin of 10.74%. Nordson's return on equity of 19.10% beat Xylem's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xylem	10.74%	10.33%	6.72%
Nordson	16.51%	19.10%	9.60%

Summary

Nordson beats Xylem on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.