AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Does the media favor AZN or ABT?

In the previous week, Abbott Laboratories had 12 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Abbott Laboratories and 33 mentions for AstraZeneca. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat AstraZeneca's score of 0.58 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AstraZeneca	13 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Abbott Laboratories	42 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

20.4% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, AZN or ABT?

AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, AZN or ABT?

AstraZeneca has higher revenue and earnings than Abbott Laboratories. AstraZeneca is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Abbott Laboratories, 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
AstraZeneca	$45.81B	4.28	$5.96B	$2.09	30.24
Abbott Laboratories	$41.22B	4.88	$5.72B	$3.29	35.24

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AZN or ABT?

Abbott Laboratories received 874 more outperform votes than AstraZeneca when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.70% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 58.82% of users gave AstraZeneca an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AstraZeneca	Outperform Votes 60 58.82%	Underperform Votes 42 41.18%
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 934 69.70%	Underperform Votes 406 30.30%

Is AZN or ABT a better dividend stock?

AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $0.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. AstraZeneca pays out 46.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Abbott Laboratories pays out 66.9% 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 raised its dividend for 53 consecutive years. Abbott Laboratories is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer AZN or ABT?

AstraZeneca currently has a consensus price target of $89.75, suggesting a potential upside of 42.01%. Abbott Laboratories has a consensus price target of $130.07, suggesting a potential upside of 12.19%. Given AstraZeneca's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe AstraZeneca is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Is AZN or ABT more profitable?

Abbott Laboratories has a net margin of 13.99% compared to AstraZeneca's net margin of 12.68%. AstraZeneca's return on equity of 30.01% beat Abbott Laboratories' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	12.68%	30.01%	11.42%
Abbott Laboratories	13.99%	20.18%	10.84%

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats AstraZeneca on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.