Qiagen (QGEN) Competitors

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) and Danaher (NYSE:DHR) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend QGEN or DHR?

Qiagen presently has a consensus price target of $49.40, indicating a potential upside of 4.07%. Danaher has a consensus price target of $247.61, indicating a potential upside of 26.76%. Given Danaher's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Danaher is more favorable than Qiagen.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Qiagen	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
Danaher	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85

Is QGEN or DHR a better dividend stock?

Qiagen pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Danaher pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Qiagen pays out 62.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Danaher pays out 27.2% 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. Danaher has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Danaher is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, QGEN or DHR?

Danaher has higher revenue and earnings than Qiagen. Danaher is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Qiagen, 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
Qiagen	$1.98B	5.33	$83.59M	$0.40	118.67
Danaher	$24.01B	5.82	$3.90B	$4.70	41.56

Which has more risk and volatility, QGEN or DHR?

Qiagen has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Danaher has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is QGEN or DHR more profitable?

Qiagen has a net margin of 18.30% compared to Danaher's net margin of 14.21%. Qiagen's return on equity of 14.77% beat Danaher's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Qiagen	18.30%	14.77%	8.86%
Danaher	14.21%	10.70%	6.85%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of QGEN or DHR?

70.0% of Qiagen shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.1% of Danaher shares are held by institutional investors. 9.0% of Qiagen shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of Danaher shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to QGEN or DHR?

In the previous week, Danaher had 24 more articles in the media than Qiagen. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for Danaher and 16 mentions for Qiagen. Danaher's average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat Qiagen's score of 0.60 indicating that Danaher is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Qiagen	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Danaher	37 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Danaher beats Qiagen on 16 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.