IBM vs. ACN, IT, CTSH, BAH, LDOS, EPAM, CACI, DOX, TDC, and HCKT
Should you be buying International Business Machines stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of International Business Machines include Accenture (ACN), Gartner (IT), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), Leidos (LDOS), EPAM Systems (EPAM), CACI International (CACI), Amdocs (DOX), Teradata (TDC), and The Hackett Group (HCKT). These companies are all part of the "it consulting & other services" industry.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, community ranking, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Accenture pays an annual dividend of $5.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. International Business Machines pays an annual dividend of $6.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Accenture pays out 46.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. International Business Machines pays out 75.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Accenture has increased its dividend for 19 consecutive years and International Business Machines has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years. International Business Machines is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
In the previous week, International Business Machines had 11 more articles in the media than Accenture. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for International Business Machines and 12 mentions for Accenture. International Business Machines' average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Accenture's score of 0.73 indicating that Accenture is being referred to more favorably in the media.
International Business Machines has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Accenture. International Business Machines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Accenture, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
International Business Machines has a net margin of 13.18% compared to International Business Machines' net margin of 10.89%. Accenture's return on equity of 40.21% beat International Business Machines' return on equity.
75.1% of Accenture shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.0% of International Business Machines shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Accenture shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of International Business Machines shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Accenture has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, International Business Machines has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Accenture presently has a consensus price target of $380.24, indicating a potential upside of 34.70%. International Business Machines has a consensus price target of $181.29, indicating a potential upside of 8.65%. Given International Business Machines' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Accenture is more favorable than International Business Machines.
Accenture received 57 more outperform votes than International Business Machines when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.30% of users gave Accenture an outperform vote while only 58.70% of users gave International Business Machines an outperform vote.
Summary
Accenture beats International Business Machines on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get International Business Machines News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for IBM and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding IBM and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartThis chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Skip Chart
International Business Machines Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools