Stryker (SYK) Competitors

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) and Stryker (NYSE:SYK) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, community ranking, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Is ABT or SYK a better dividend stock?

Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Stryker pays an annual dividend of $3.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Abbott Laboratories pays out 30.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stryker pays out 43.3% 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. Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend for 53 consecutive years and Stryker has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Abbott Laboratories is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor ABT or SYK?

In the previous week, Abbott Laboratories had 8 more articles in the media than Stryker. MarketBeat recorded 72 mentions for Abbott Laboratories and 64 mentions for Stryker. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat Stryker's score of 1.34 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Abbott Laboratories	66 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Stryker	49 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Stryker. Abbott Laboratories is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stryker, 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
Abbott Laboratories	$41.95B	5.59	$13.40B	$7.65	17.69
Stryker	$22.60B	6.44	$2.99B	$7.76	49.16

Do analysts rate ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus target price of $133.06, indicating a potential downside of 1.65%. Stryker has a consensus target price of $420.68, indicating a potential upside of 10.28%. Given Stryker's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Stryker is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Stryker	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories received 10 more outperform votes than Stryker when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.90% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 64.70% of users gave Stryker an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 943 69.90%	Underperform Votes 406 30.10%
Stryker	Outperform Votes 933 64.70%	Underperform Votes 509 35.30%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ABT or SYK?

75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.1% of Stryker shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Stryker shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ABT or SYK more profitable?

Abbott Laboratories has a net margin of 31.95% compared to Stryker's net margin of 13.25%. Stryker's return on equity of 23.58% beat Abbott Laboratories' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Abbott Laboratories	31.95%	20.74%	11.19%
Stryker	13.25%	23.58%	11.37%

Which has more risk and volatility, ABT or SYK?

Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stryker has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats Stryker on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.