Msci (NYSE:MSCI) and Nielsen (NYSE:NLSN) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, profitability and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares Msci and Nielsen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Msci | 39.20% | -243.52% | 15.46% |
| Nielsen | -19.46% | 21.91% | 4.09% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Msci and Nielsen’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Msci | $1.43 billion | 15.25 | $507.89 million | $5.35 | 48.26 |
| Nielsen | $6.52 billion | 1.08 | -$712.00 million | $1.73 | 11.46 |
Msci has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Nielsen. Nielsen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Msci, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Msci has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nielsen has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Msci and Nielsen, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Msci | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2.38 |
| Nielsen | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.60 |
Msci currently has a consensus target price of $234.25, suggesting a potential downside of 9.27%. Nielsen has a consensus target price of $25.40, suggesting a potential upside of 28.09%. Given Nielsen’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Nielsen is more favorable than Msci.
Dividends
Msci pays an annual dividend of $2.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nielsen pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Msci pays out 50.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nielsen pays out 13.9% 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. Nielsen is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
91.6% of Msci shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Nielsen shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Msci shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Nielsen shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Msci beats Nielsen on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
Msci Company Profile
MSCI Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment decision support tools for the clients to manage their investment processes worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Index, Analytics, ESG, and Real Estate. The Index segment primarily provides equity indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including index-linked product creation and performance benchmarking, as well as portfolio construction and rebalancing, and asset allocation. The Analytics segment offers risk management, performance attribution, and portfolio management content, applications, and services that provide clients with an integrated view of risk and return, and an analysis of market, credit, liquidity, and counterparty risk across various asset classes, spanning short, medium, and long-term time horizons; and various managed services for clients to address the needs of various specialized areas of the investment community by providing a reporting service and performance reporting tools to institutional consultants and investors in hedge funds. The ESG segment provides products and services that help institutional investors understand how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors impact the long-term risk of their investments; and data and ratings products for use in the construction of equity and fixed income indexes to help institutional investors benchmark ESG investment performance and issue index-based investment products, as well as manage, measure, and report on ESG mandates. The Real Estate segment offers real estate performance analysis for funds, investors, managers, and lenders. This segment provides products and services that include research, reporting, and benchmarking; and business intelligence to real estate owners, managers, developers, and brokers. MSCI Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Nielsen Company Profile
Nielsen Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a measurement and data analytics company. It operates in two segments, Buy and Watch. The Buy segment provides retail transactional measurement data, consumer behavior information, and analytics primarily to businesses in the consumer packaged goods industry. This segment offers data on retail measurement services, such as market share, competitive sales volumes, and insights into activities, such as distribution, pricing, merchandising, and promotion; consumer panel measurement, which offers insight into shopper behavior comprising trial and repeat purchase for new products, brand or retailer loyalty, and customer segmentation; and consumer intelligence and analytical services that help clients in taking business decisions in product development and marketing cycles. The Watch segment provides viewership and listening data, and analytics principally to the media and advertising industries covering television, radio, print, online, digital, mobile viewing, and listening platforms. This segment offers television audience measurement services; audio audience measurement services; digital audience measurement services, such as digital media and market research, audience analytics, and social media measurement; mobile measurement services comprising measurement and consumer research for telecom and media companies; and total audience measurement services. Nielsen Holdings plc provides media and marketing information, analytics, and manufacturer and retailer expertise about what and where consumers buy, read, watch, and listen. The company was formerly known as Nielsen N.V. and changed its name to Nielsen Holdings plc in August 2015. Nielsen Holdings plc was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
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