Novartis (NVS) Competitors

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

Is NVS or NVO more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 35.96% compared to Novo Nordisk A/S's net margin of 35.03%. Novo Nordisk A/S's return on equity of 86.32% beat Novartis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novartis	35.96%	34.80%	15.13%
Novo Nordisk A/S	35.03%	86.32%	27.42%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NVS or NVO?

Novartis received 108 more outperform votes than Novo Nordisk A/S when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 61.64% of users gave Novo Nordisk A/S an outperform vote while only 61.01% of users gave Novartis an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Novartis	Outperform Votes 529 61.01%	Underperform Votes 338 38.99%
Novo Nordisk A/S	Outperform Votes 421 61.64%	Underperform Votes 262 38.36%

Which has more risk & volatility, NVS or NVO?

Novartis has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, NVS or NVO?

Novartis has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Novo Nordisk A/S. 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	$45.44B	4.64	$14.85B	$8.61	11.97
Novo Nordisk A/S	$270.58B	1.75	$12.15B	$3.09	34.08

Does the media favor NVS or NVO?

In the previous week, Novo Nordisk A/S had 14 more articles in the media than Novartis. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for Novo Nordisk A/S and 23 mentions for Novartis. Novo Nordisk A/S's average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Novartis' score of 0.61 indicating that Novo Nordisk A/S is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Novartis	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Novo Nordisk A/S	21 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

13.1% of Novartis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Novartis shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is NVS or NVO a better dividend stock?

Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Novartis pays out 28.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 23.3% 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.

Do analysts prefer NVS or NVO?

Novartis presently has a consensus target price of $121.50, suggesting a potential upside of 17.86%. Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus target price of $144.50, suggesting a potential upside of 37.23%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than Novartis.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novartis	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.89
Novo Nordisk A/S	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats Novartis on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.