AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Is NVO or AZN more profitable?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a net margin of 35.03% compared to AstraZeneca's net margin of 12.68%. Novo Nordisk A/S's return on equity of 86.32% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novo Nordisk A/S	35.03%	86.32%	27.42%
AstraZeneca	12.68%	30.01%	11.42%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S received 367 more outperform votes than AstraZeneca when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.88% of users gave Novo Nordisk A/S an outperform vote while only 58.82% of users gave AstraZeneca an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Novo Nordisk A/S	Outperform Votes 427 61.88%	Underperform Votes 263 38.12%
AstraZeneca	Outperform Votes 60 58.82%	Underperform Votes 42 41.18%

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

11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.4% of AstraZeneca 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, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is NVO or AZN a better dividend stock?

Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $0.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AstraZeneca pays out 46.9% 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus target price of $140.20, indicating a potential upside of 78.06%. AstraZeneca has a consensus target price of $89.75, indicating a potential upside of 34.76%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than AstraZeneca.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novo Nordisk A/S	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has better earnings and valuation, NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Novo Nordisk A/S	$33.71B	10.48	$12.15B	$3.09	25.48
AstraZeneca	$45.81B	4.51	$5.96B	$2.09	31.87

Does the media refer more to NVO or AZN?

In the previous week, Novo Nordisk A/S had 20 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 62 mentions for Novo Nordisk A/S and 42 mentions for AstraZeneca. Novo Nordisk A/S's average media sentiment score of 0.57 beat AstraZeneca's score of 0.35 indicating that Novo Nordisk A/S is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novo Nordisk A/S	28 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	16 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AstraZeneca	19 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	21 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats AstraZeneca on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.