International Business Machines (IBM) Competitors

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) and Accenture (NYSE:ACN) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in IBM or ACN?

Accenture received 70 more outperform votes than International Business Machines when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.97% of users gave Accenture an outperform vote while only 58.64% of users gave International Business Machines an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
International Business Machines	Outperform Votes 1116 58.64%	Underperform Votes 787 41.36%
Accenture	Outperform Votes 1186 69.97%	Underperform Votes 509 30.03%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of IBM or ACN?

59.0% of International Business Machines shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Accenture shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of International Business Machines shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Accenture shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate IBM or ACN?

International Business Machines presently has a consensus target price of $194.35, suggesting a potential downside of 14.99%. Accenture has a consensus target price of $371.18, suggesting a potential upside of 3.00%. Given Accenture's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Accenture is more favorable than International Business Machines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
International Business Machines	3 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.18
Accenture	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Is IBM or ACN more profitable?

International Business Machines has a net margin of 13.52% compared to Accenture's net margin of 10.79%. International Business Machines' return on equity of 40.59% beat Accenture's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
International Business Machines	13.52%	40.59%	7.06%
Accenture	10.79%	27.48%	14.59%

Does the media prefer IBM or ACN?

In the previous week, International Business Machines had 11 more articles in the media than Accenture. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for International Business Machines and 19 mentions for Accenture. Accenture's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat International Business Machines' score of 0.48 indicating that Accenture is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
International Business Machines	8 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Accenture	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, IBM or ACN?

International Business Machines has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Accenture has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is IBM or ACN a better dividend stock?

International Business Machines pays an annual dividend of $6.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Accenture pays an annual dividend of $5.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. 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 pays out 54.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. International Business Machines has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years and Accenture has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. International Business Machines is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, IBM or ACN?

International Business Machines has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
International Business Machines	$62.36B	3.37	$7.50B	$8.83	25.89
Accenture	$64.90B	3.48	$6.87B	$10.92	33.00

Summary

Accenture beats International Business Machines on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.