Novartis (NVS) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NVS or NVO?

Novartis received 105 more outperform votes than Novo Nordisk A/S when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 61.79% of users gave Novo Nordisk A/S an outperform vote while only 60.94% of users gave Novartis an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Novartis	Outperform Votes 532 60.94%	Underperform Votes 341 39.06%
Novo Nordisk A/S	Outperform Votes 427 61.79%	Underperform Votes 264 38.21%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, NVS or NVO?

Novo Nordisk A/S has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Novartis. Novartis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Novo Nordisk A/S, 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
Novartis	$51.72B	4.24	$11.94B	$5.88	18.24
Novo Nordisk A/S	$42.12B	8.93	$14.64B	$3.29	25.47

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NVS or NVO?

13.1% of Novartis shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Novartis shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is NVS or NVO more profitable?

Novo Nordisk A/S has a net margin of 34.81% compared to Novartis' net margin of 23.56%. Novo Nordisk A/S's return on equity of 84.68% beat Novartis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novartis	23.56%	37.24%	15.85%
Novo Nordisk A/S	34.81%	84.68%	26.29%

Which has more risk & volatility, NVS or NVO?

Novartis has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to NVS or NVO?

In the previous week, Novo Nordisk A/S had 54 more articles in the media than Novartis. MarketBeat recorded 79 mentions for Novo Nordisk A/S and 25 mentions for Novartis. Novartis' average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat Novo Nordisk A/S's score of 0.53 indicating that Novartis is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novartis	24 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novo Nordisk A/S	43 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	25 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate NVS or NVO?

Novartis presently has a consensus target price of $123.38, indicating a potential upside of 15.03%. Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus target price of $145.25, indicating a potential upside of 73.34%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than Novartis.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novartis	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80
Novo Nordisk A/S	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is NVS or NVO a better dividend stock?

Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Novartis pays out 41.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 21.9% 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.

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats Novartis on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.