AIT vs. WSO, WCC, BECN, GATX, AL, MSM, RUSHA, HEES, DXPE, and WLFC
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), GATX (GATX), Air Lease (AL), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), H&E Equipment Services (HEES), DXP Enterprises (DXPE), and Willis Lease Finance (WLFC). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry.
Applied Industrial Technologies vs.
Watsco (NYSE:WSO) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, community ranking, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Watsco currently has a consensus target price of $486.25, indicating a potential downside of 6.08%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus target price of $284.29, indicating a potential upside of 19.68%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Watsco.
Watsco pays an annual dividend of $10.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Watsco pays out 81.5% 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 18.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Applied Industrial Technologies has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.
Watsco received 69 more outperform votes than Applied Industrial Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.42% of users gave Applied Industrial Technologies an outperform vote while only 55.39% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote.
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.
89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.9% of Watsco shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
In the previous week, Watsco and Watsco both had 11 articles in the media. Watsco's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 1.21 indicating that Watsco is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.62% compared to Watsco's net margin of 7.04%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 22.37% beat Watsco's return on equity.
Watsco has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.
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 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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This page (NYSE:AIT) was last updated on 3/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff