AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

GSK (LON:GSK) and AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, community ranking, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Is GSK or AZN more profitable?

AstraZeneca has a net margin of 13.01% compared to GSK's net margin of 8.02%. GSK's return on equity of 18.08% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GSK	8.02%	18.08%	9.56%
AstraZeneca	13.01%	17.76%	7.68%

Is GSK or AZN a better dividend stock?

GSK pays an annual dividend of GBX 60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of GBX 234 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. GSK pays out 96.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AstraZeneca pays out 64.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, GSK or AZN?

AstraZeneca has higher revenue and earnings than GSK. GSK is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AstraZeneca, 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
GSK	£31.14B	1.86	£2.50B	£61.91	23.08
AstraZeneca	£66.95B	3.36	£8.71B	£364.83	32.09

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in GSK or AZN?

AstraZeneca received 771 more outperform votes than GSK when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.73% of users gave AstraZeneca an outperform vote while only 50.37% of users gave GSK an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
GSK	Outperform Votes 1090 50.37%	Underperform Votes 1074 49.63%
AstraZeneca	Outperform Votes 1861 63.73%	Underperform Votes 1059 36.27%

Which has more risk and volatility, GSK or AZN?

GSK has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer GSK or AZN?

In the previous week, GSK had 4 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for GSK and 5 mentions for AstraZeneca. GSK's average media sentiment score of 0.57 beat AstraZeneca's score of 0.47 indicating that GSK is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GSK	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AstraZeneca	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of GSK or AZN?

45.3% of GSK shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.0% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of GSK shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of AstraZeneca shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate GSK or AZN?

GSK presently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,805.83, indicating a potential upside of 26.37%. AstraZeneca has a consensus price target of GBX 7,542.80, indicating a potential downside of 35.58%. Given GSK's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe GSK is more favorable than AstraZeneca.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GSK	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Summary

AstraZeneca beats GSK on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.