Xylem (XYL) Competitors

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

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	$8.73B	3.97	$890M	$3.85	36.98
Nordson	$2.69B	4.75	$467.28M	$7.96	28.60

Is XYL or NDSN more profitable?

Nordson has a net margin of 16.34% compared to Xylem's net margin of 10.74%. Nordson's return on equity of 19.45% beat Xylem's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xylem	10.74%	10.33%	6.72%
Nordson	16.34%	19.45%	9.55%

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 $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Xylem pays out 41.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nordson pays out 41.2% 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.

Does the media favor XYL or NDSN?

In the previous week, Xylem had 25 more articles in the media than Nordson. MarketBeat recorded 33 mentions for Xylem and 8 mentions for Nordson. Nordson's average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat Xylem's score of 1.28 indicating that Nordson is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Xylem	24 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 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)	Very Positive

Do analysts prefer XYL or NDSN?

Xylem presently has a consensus price target of $150.75, indicating a potential upside of 5.89%. Nordson has a consensus price target of $255.75, indicating a potential upside of 12.35%. Given Nordson's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Nordson is more favorable than Xylem.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xylem	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55
Nordson	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55

Which has more volatility & risk, XYL or NDSN?

Xylem has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nordson has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

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

Summary

Nordson beats Xylem on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.