HP (HPQ) Competitors

HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is HPQ or AAPL a better dividend stock?

HP pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. HP pays out 44.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Apple pays out 16.2% 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. HP has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Apple has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. HP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate HPQ or AAPL?

HP currently has a consensus price target of $29.54, suggesting a potential upside of 14.50%. Apple has a consensus price target of $235.27, suggesting a potential upside of 12.03%. Given HP's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe HP is more favorable than Apple.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HP	1 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.07
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.59

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in HPQ or AAPL?

77.5% of HP shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of Apple shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of HP shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Apple shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is HPQ or AAPL more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to HP's net margin of 4.64%. Apple's return on equity of 167.24% beat HP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HP	4.64%	-244.99%	7.97%
Apple	24.30%	167.24%	31.35%

Which has more volatility and risk, HPQ or AAPL?

HP has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apple has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to HPQ or AAPL?

In the previous week, Apple had 242 more articles in the media than HP. MarketBeat recorded 267 mentions for Apple and 25 mentions for HP. HP's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Apple's score of 0.81 indicating that HP is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
HP	20 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Apple	151 Very Positive mention(s)	18 Positive mention(s)	68 Neutral mention(s)	23 Negative mention(s)	6 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, HPQ or AAPL?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than HP. HP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, 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
HP	$53.56B	0.45	$2.78B	$2.59	9.96
Apple	$391.04B	8.02	$93.74B	$6.42	32.71

Summary

Apple beats HP on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.