GSK (GSK) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate GSK or AZN?

GSK presently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,805.83, suggesting a potential upside of 30.86%. AstraZeneca has a consensus price target of GBX 7,935.67, suggesting a potential downside of 28.47%. Given GSK's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, 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	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in GSK or AZN?

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GSK or AZN?

AstraZeneca received 770 more outperform votes than GSK when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.72% 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 1860 63.72%	Underperform Votes 1059 36.28%

Is GSK or AZN a better dividend stock?

GSK pays an annual dividend of GBX 60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of GBX 234 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. GSK pays out 5,309.7% 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 7,428.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. GSK is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor GSK or AZN?

In the previous week, AstraZeneca had 1 more articles in the media than GSK. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for AstraZeneca and 7 mentions for GSK. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 0.29 beat GSK's score of -0.13 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GSK	0 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
AstraZeneca	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is GSK or AZN more profitable?

AstraZeneca has a net margin of 13.11% compared to GSK's net margin of 12.83%. GSK's return on equity of 33.30% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GSK	12.83%	33.30%	9.56%
AstraZeneca	13.11%	16.74%	7.68%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, 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	£31.45B	1.79	£4.03B	£1.13	1,221.24
AstraZeneca	£49.13B	3.50	£6.44B	£3.15	3,521.80

Which has more risk & volatility, GSK or AZN?

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

Summary

AstraZeneca beats GSK on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.