Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) Competitors

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) and Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, community ranking, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Does the media favor TMO or A?

In the previous week, Thermo Fisher Scientific had 18 more articles in the media than Agilent Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 64 mentions for Thermo Fisher Scientific and 46 mentions for Agilent Technologies. Thermo Fisher Scientific's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat Agilent Technologies' score of 0.96 indicating that Thermo Fisher Scientific is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Thermo Fisher Scientific	50 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Agilent Technologies	27 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in TMO or A?

89.2% of Thermo Fisher Scientific shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Thermo Fisher Scientific shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is TMO or A more profitable?

Agilent Technologies has a net margin of 19.27% compared to Thermo Fisher Scientific's net margin of 14.78%. Agilent Technologies' return on equity of 25.56% beat Thermo Fisher Scientific's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Thermo Fisher Scientific	14.78%	17.51%	8.52%
Agilent Technologies	19.27%	25.56%	13.47%

Do analysts recommend TMO or A?

Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus price target of $653.23, suggesting a potential upside of 25.46%. Agilent Technologies has a consensus price target of $146.15, suggesting a potential upside of 19.76%. Given Thermo Fisher Scientific's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Thermo Fisher Scientific is more favorable than Agilent Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Thermo Fisher Scientific	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	18 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
Agilent Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer TMO or A?

Thermo Fisher Scientific received 218 more outperform votes than Agilent Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.82% of users gave Thermo Fisher Scientific an outperform vote while only 71.08% of users gave Agilent Technologies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Thermo Fisher Scientific	Outperform Votes 1083 80.82%	Underperform Votes 257 19.18%
Agilent Technologies	Outperform Votes 865 71.08%	Underperform Votes 352 28.92%

Is TMO or A a better dividend stock?

Thermo Fisher Scientific pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Agilent Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.99 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Thermo Fisher Scientific pays out 10.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Agilent Technologies pays out 22.8% 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, TMO or A?

Thermo Fisher Scientific has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agilent Technologies has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, TMO or A?

Thermo Fisher Scientific has higher revenue and earnings than Agilent Technologies. Agilent Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Thermo Fisher Scientific, 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
Thermo Fisher Scientific	$42.88B	4.58	$6.34B	$16.53	31.50
Agilent Technologies	$6.51B	5.34	$1.29B	$4.35	28.06

Summary

Thermo Fisher Scientific beats Agilent Technologies on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.