AIT vs. WSO, WCC, BECN, AL, GATX, MSM, RUSHA, HEES, DXPE, and MRC
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), GATX (GATX), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), H&E Equipment Services (HEES), DXP Enterprises (DXPE), and MRC Global (MRC). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry.
Applied Industrial Technologies vs. Its Competitors
Watsco (NYSE:WSO) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, media sentiment, dividends and profitability.
89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Watsco shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Watsco has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.64% compared to Watsco's net margin of 6.98%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 22.01% 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.
In the previous week, Watsco had 14 more articles in the media than Applied Industrial Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Watsco and 5 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies. Applied Industrial Technologies' average media sentiment score of 1.12 beat Watsco's score of 0.98 indicating that Applied Industrial Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Watsco currently has a consensus target price of $484.17, indicating a potential upside of 5.87%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus target price of $285.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.10%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Watsco.
Watsco pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Watsco pays out 92.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.
Summary
Applied Industrial Technologies beats Watsco on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
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.
Media Sentiment Over Time
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.
Applied Industrial Technologies Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:AIT) was last updated on 7/4/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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