Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) vs. Its Competitors Head-To-Head Survey

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is one of 907 public companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Novo Nordisk A/S to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Novo Nordisk A/S pays an annual dividend of $1.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Novo Nordisk A/S pays out 42.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.8% and pay out 48.3% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novo Nordisk A/S	0	16	4	0	2.20
Novo Nordisk A/S Competitors	7659	13615	25478	989	2.41

Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus target price of $64.94, suggesting a potential upside of 44.59%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 32.50%. Given Novo Nordisk A/S’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Novo Nordisk A/S is more favorable than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

Novo Nordisk A/S has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk A/S’s peers have a beta of -3.23, suggesting that their average share price is 423% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Novo Nordisk A/S	$46.80 billion	$15.51 billion	10.98
Novo Nordisk A/S Competitors	$3.48 billion	$3.12 billion	541.42

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	35.36%	61.20%	21.49%
Novo Nordisk A/S Competitors	-2,313.75%	-223.79%	-17.58%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.5% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.8% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Novo Nordisk A/S shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% 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 company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Company Profile

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.