AIT vs. WSO, WCC, BECN, AL, MSM, GATX, RUSHA, HEES, MRC, and BXC
Should you be buying Applied Industrial Technologies stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Applied Industrial Technologies include Watsco (WSO), WESCO International (WCC), Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN), Air Lease (AL), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), GATX (GATX), Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), H&E Equipment Services (HEES), MRC Global (MRC), and BlueLinx (BXC). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry.
Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) and Watsco (NYSE:WSO) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.
In the previous week, Applied Industrial Technologies had 6 more articles in the media than Watsco. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies and 7 mentions for Watsco. Watsco's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 0.83 indicating that Watsco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.36% compared to Watsco's net margin of 7.03%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 23.69% beat Watsco's return on equity.
Watsco has higher revenue and earnings than Applied Industrial Technologies. Applied Industrial Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Watsco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watsco has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $201.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.39%. Watsco has a consensus target price of $404.25, indicating a potential downside of 12.62%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Watsco.
Watsco received 84 more outperform votes than Applied Industrial Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.71% of users gave Applied Industrial Technologies an outperform vote while only 55.46% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote.
Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Watsco pays an annual dividend of $10.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 15.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco pays out 83.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Watsco shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Applied Industrial Technologies beats Watsco on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding AIT and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This 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.
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