Critical Contrast: AstraZeneca (AZNCF) versus Its Competitors

Institutional & Insider Ownership

40.9% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.8% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by institutional investors. 13.9% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AstraZeneca and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
AstraZeneca	N/A	N/A	229.29
AstraZeneca Competitors	$16.67 billion	$3.09 billion	537.89

AstraZeneca’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares AstraZeneca and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	N/A	N/A	N/A
AstraZeneca Competitors	-2,303.66%	-215.31%	-17.28%

Dividends

AstraZeneca pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. AstraZeneca pays out 343.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.8% and pay out 48.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. AstraZeneca lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

AstraZeneca rivals beat AstraZeneca on 5 of the 9 factors compared.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology. Its marketed products also comprise Vaxzevria, Beyfortus, Synagis, FluMist, Soliris, Ultomiris, Strensiq, Koselugo, and Kanuma for covid-19 and rare disease. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.