Air Lease (AL) Competitors

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) and Air Lease (NYSE:AL) are both construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Is WSO or AL more profitable?

Air Lease has a net margin of 19.58% compared to Watsco's net margin of 6.99%. Watsco's return on equity of 17.77% beat Air Lease's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Watsco	6.99%	17.77%	12.28%
Air Lease	19.58%	8.92%	2.10%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, WSO or AL?

Air Lease has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Watsco. Air Lease is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Watsco, 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
Watsco	$7.28B	2.75	$536.34M	$12.94	38.40
Air Lease	$2.68B	1.94	$614.62M	$4.39	10.64

Which has more risk & volatility, WSO or AL?

Watsco has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Lease has a beta of 1.61, suggesting that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WSO or AL?

Air Lease received 249 more outperform votes than Watsco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.39% of users gave Air Lease an outperform vote while only 55.41% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Watsco	Outperform Votes 333 55.41%	Underperform Votes 268 44.59%
Air Lease	Outperform Votes 582 73.39%	Underperform Votes 211 26.61%

Do analysts rate WSO or AL?

Watsco presently has a consensus target price of $488.33, indicating a potential downside of 1.73%. Air Lease has a consensus target price of $57.60, indicating a potential upside of 23.32%. Given Air Lease's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Air Lease is more favorable than Watsco.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Watsco	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Air Lease	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor WSO or AL?

In the previous week, Watsco had 8 more articles in the media than Air Lease. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Watsco and 4 mentions for Air Lease. Watsco's average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat Air Lease's score of 0.38 indicating that Watsco is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Watsco	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Air Lease	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is WSO or AL a better dividend stock?

Watsco pays an annual dividend of $10.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Air Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Watsco pays out 83.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Air Lease pays out 20.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Watsco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WSO or AL?

89.7% of Watsco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.6% of Air Lease shares are held by institutional investors. 12.9% of Watsco shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Air Lease shares are held 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.

Summary

Watsco beats Air Lease on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.