GSK (GSK) Competitors

GSK (NYSE:GSK) and Novartis (NYSE:NVS) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Which has more volatility and risk, GSK or NVS?

GSK has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novartis has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, GSK or NVS?

Novartis has higher revenue and earnings than GSK. Novartis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GSK, 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
GSK	$40.10B	1.91	$3.29B	$2.16	17.38
Novartis	$50.32B	4.84	$11.94B	$6.87	16.78

Is GSK or NVS more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 25.64% compared to GSK's net margin of 10.81%. GSK's return on equity of 49.22% beat Novartis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GSK	10.81%	49.22%	11.31%
Novartis	25.64%	41.08%	16.83%

Does the media prefer GSK or NVS?

In the previous week, GSK had 12 more articles in the media than Novartis. MarketBeat recorded 33 mentions for GSK and 21 mentions for Novartis. Novartis' average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat GSK's score of 0.62 indicating that Novartis is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GSK	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novartis	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in GSK or NVS?

15.7% of GSK shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.1% of Novartis shares are held by institutional investors. 10.0% of GSK shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Novartis shares are held by 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.

Do analysts recommend GSK or NVS?

GSK presently has a consensus price target of $37.38, suggesting a potential downside of 0.41%. Novartis has a consensus price target of $123.67, suggesting a potential upside of 7.30%. Given Novartis' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Novartis is more favorable than GSK.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GSK	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.11
Novartis	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is GSK or NVS a better dividend stock?

GSK pays an annual dividend of $1.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. GSK pays out 79.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Novartis pays out 37.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Novartis beats GSK on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.