Patrick Industries (PATK) Competitors

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) and Patrick Industries (NASDAQ:PATK) are both mid-cap industrial products companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Does the media refer more to AOS or PATK?

In the previous week, A. O. Smith had 4 more articles in the media than Patrick Industries. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for A. O. Smith and 9 mentions for Patrick Industries. Patrick Industries' average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat A. O. Smith's score of 1.00 indicating that Patrick Industries is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Patrick Industries	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, AOS or PATK?

A. O. Smith has higher revenue and earnings than Patrick Industries. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Patrick Industries, 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
A. O. Smith	$3.82B	2.50	$533.60M	$3.63	18.15
Patrick Industries	$3.72B	0.82	$138.40M	$4.12	22.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AOS or PATK?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.3% of Patrick Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of A. O. Smith shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Patrick Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AOS or PATK?

A. O. Smith received 141 more outperform votes than Patrick Industries when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.05% of users gave Patrick Industries an outperform vote while only 61.46% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 472 61.46%	Underperform Votes 296 38.54%
Patrick Industries	Outperform Votes 331 63.05%	Underperform Votes 194 36.95%

Do analysts prefer AOS or PATK?

A. O. Smith presently has a consensus target price of $80.86, suggesting a potential upside of 22.74%. Patrick Industries has a consensus target price of $97.96, suggesting a potential upside of 8.05%. Given A. O. Smith's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe A. O. Smith is more favorable than Patrick Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Patrick Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is AOS or PATK more profitable?

A. O. Smith has a net margin of 13.98% compared to Patrick Industries' net margin of 3.72%. A. O. Smith's return on equity of 28.87% beat Patrick Industries' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A. O. Smith	13.98%	28.87%	17.16%
Patrick Industries	3.72%	13.25%	4.80%

Which has more volatility & risk, AOS or PATK?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Patrick Industries has a beta of 2.26, indicating that its stock price is 126% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AOS or PATK a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Patrick Industries pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. A. O. Smith pays out 37.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Patrick Industries pays out 38.8% 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. A. O. Smith has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

A. O. Smith beats Patrick Industries on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.