Contrasting Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) & Its Competitors

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is one of 908 publicly-traded companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Novo Nordisk A/S to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Novo Nordisk A/S and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novo Nordisk A/S	2	15	5	0	2.14
Novo Nordisk A/S Competitors	7592	13669	25499	988	2.42

Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus price target of $65.56, suggesting a potential upside of 38.91%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 25.31%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than its peers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.7% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.0% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk A/S’s peers have a beta of -3.98, meaning that their average stock price is 498% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Novo Nordisk A/S and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Novo Nordisk A/S	$46.80 billion	$15.51 billion	11.08
Novo Nordisk A/S Competitors	$3.47 billion	$3.10 billion	513.36

Novo Nordisk A/S has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Novo Nordisk A/S is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Novo Nordisk A/S and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novo Nordisk A/S	37.23%	63.31%	22.19%
Novo Nordisk A/S Competitors	-2,478.03%	-254.07%	-16.90%

Dividends

Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $1.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 41.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.6% and pay out 47.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Novo Nordisk A/S is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Novo Nordisk A/S beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease. The Diabetes and Obesity care segment provides products for diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, and other emerging therapy areas. The Rare Disease segment offers products in the areas of rare blood disorders, rare endocrine disorders, and hormone replacement therapy. The company also provides insulin pens, growth hormone pens, and injection needles. In addition, it offers smart solutions for diabetes treatment, such as smart insulin pens and Dose Check, an insulin dose guidance application. The company has a collaboration agreement with Aspen Pharmaceuticals to produce insulin products; and with Korro Bio, Inc. for the discovery and development of new genetic medicines to treat cardiometabolic diseases. Novo Nordisk A/S was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.