AstraZeneca (AZN) Competitors

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

Is NVO or AZN more profitable?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a net margin of 34.81% compared to AstraZeneca's net margin of 13.01%. Novo Nordisk A/S's return on equity of 84.68% beat AstraZeneca's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novo Nordisk A/S	34.81%	84.68%	26.29%
AstraZeneca	13.01%	32.23%	12.31%

Which has more risk & volatility, NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S received 368 more outperform votes than AstraZeneca when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.87% of users gave Novo Nordisk A/S an outperform vote while only 59.62% of users gave AstraZeneca an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Novo Nordisk A/S	Outperform Votes 430 61.87%	Underperform Votes 265 38.13%
AstraZeneca	Outperform Votes 62 59.62%	Underperform Votes 42 40.38%

Do analysts recommend NVO or AZN?

Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus price target of $145.25, suggesting a potential upside of 97.70%. AstraZeneca has a consensus price target of $89.75, suggesting a potential upside of 23.22%. 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
AstraZeneca	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.10

Is NVO or AZN a better dividend stock?

Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $1.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 47.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AstraZeneca pays out 91.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, NVO or AZN?

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
Novo Nordisk A/S	$290.40B	1.14	$14.64B	$3.29	22.33
AstraZeneca	$54.07B	4.18	$7.04B	$2.26	32.23

Does the media favor NVO or AZN?

In the previous week, Novo Nordisk A/S had 53 more articles in the media than AstraZeneca. MarketBeat recorded 85 mentions for Novo Nordisk A/S and 32 mentions for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Novo Nordisk A/S's score of 0.42 indicating that AstraZeneca is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novo Nordisk A/S	36 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	30 Neutral mention(s)	10 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
AstraZeneca	25 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats AstraZeneca on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.