AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Is AZN or NVO more profitable?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a net margin of 34.52% compared to AstraZeneca's net margin of 14.14%. Novo Nordisk A/S's return on equity of 80.94% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	14.14%	33.14%	12.83%
Novo Nordisk A/S	34.52%	80.94%	24.23%

Do analysts recommend AZN or NVO?

AstraZeneca currently has a consensus price target of $89.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.00%. Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus price target of $112.00, indicating a potential upside of 66.97%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than AstraZeneca.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Novo Nordisk A/S	2 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.27

Which has more volatility & risk, AZN or NVO?

AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to AZN or NVO?

In the previous week, Novo Nordisk A/S had 5 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 33 mentions for Novo Nordisk A/S and 28 mentions for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat Novo Nordisk A/S's score of 1.24 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AstraZeneca	20 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novo Nordisk A/S	26 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AZN or NVO a better dividend stock?

AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $1.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. AstraZeneca pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 48.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in AZN or NVO?

20.4% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, AZN or NVO?

Novo Nordisk A/S has higher revenue and earnings than AstraZeneca. Novo Nordisk A/S 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
AstraZeneca	$54.98B	3.95	$7.04B	$2.49	28.14
Novo Nordisk A/S	$303.14B	0.99	$14.64B	$3.38	19.85

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats AstraZeneca on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.