CVS Health (CVS) Competitors

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) are both large-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Does the media refer more to CVS or WBA?

In the previous week, CVS Health and CVS Health both had 52 articles in the media. CVS Health's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Walgreens Boots Alliance's score of 0.19 indicating that CVS Health is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CVS Health	30 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Walgreens Boots Alliance	16 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	11 Negative mention(s)	6 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CVS or WBA?

80.7% of CVS Health shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.6% of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of CVS Health shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.5% of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CVS or WBA?

CVS Health has higher revenue and earnings than Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreens Boots Alliance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CVS Health, 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
CVS Health	$357.78B	0.19	$8.34B	$3.94	13.38
Walgreens Boots Alliance	$147.66B	0.07	-$8.64B	-$10.24	-1.22

Is CVS or WBA more profitable?

CVS Health has a net margin of 1.36% compared to Walgreens Boots Alliance's net margin of -5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's return on equity of 14.23% beat CVS Health's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CVS Health	1.36%	10.72%	3.21%
Walgreens Boots Alliance	-5.85%	14.23%	2.88%

Which has more volatility and risk, CVS or WBA?

CVS Health has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer CVS or WBA?

CVS Health presently has a consensus target price of $68.71, indicating a potential upside of 30.31%. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus target price of $13.27, indicating a potential upside of 5.98%. Given CVS Health's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe CVS Health is more favorable than Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CVS Health	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.68
Walgreens Boots Alliance	4 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.87

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CVS or WBA?

CVS Health received 258 more outperform votes than Walgreens Boots Alliance when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.54% of users gave CVS Health an outperform vote while only 65.34% of users gave Walgreens Boots Alliance an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CVS Health	Outperform Votes 1421 75.54%	Underperform Votes 460 24.46%
Walgreens Boots Alliance	Outperform Votes 1163 65.34%	Underperform Votes 617 34.66%

Is CVS or WBA a better dividend stock?

CVS Health pays an annual dividend of $2.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Walgreens Boots Alliance pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. CVS Health pays out 67.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Walgreens Boots Alliance pays out -9.8% 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. Walgreens Boots Alliance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

CVS Health beats Walgreens Boots Alliance on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.