Air Lease (AL) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer AL or WSO?

In the previous week, Watsco had 1 more articles in the media than Air Lease. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Watsco and 9 mentions for Air Lease. Watsco's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Air Lease's score of 0.88 indicating that Watsco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Air Lease	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Watsco	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend AL or WSO?

Air Lease currently has a consensus target price of $55.67, suggesting a potential upside of 12.21%. Watsco has a consensus target price of $486.25, suggesting a potential downside of 5.12%. Given Air Lease's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Air Lease is more favorable than Watsco.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Lease	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Watsco	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AL or WSO?

Air Lease received 249 more outperform votes than Watsco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.24% of users gave Air Lease an outperform vote while only 55.39% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Air Lease	Outperform Votes 583 73.24%	Underperform Votes 213 26.76%
Watsco	Outperform Votes 334 55.39%	Underperform Votes 269 44.61%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AL or WSO?

Watsco has higher revenue and earnings than Air Lease. 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
Air Lease	$2.73B	2.03	$427.70M	$3.33	14.90
Watsco	$7.62B	2.72	$536.34M	$13.25	38.68

Is AL or WSO a better dividend stock?

Air Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Watsco pays an annual dividend of $10.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Air Lease pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. Watsco has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Watsco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in AL or WSO?

94.6% of Air Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Air Lease shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Watsco shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AL or WSO more profitable?

Air Lease has a net margin of 15.65% compared to Watsco's net margin of 7.04%. Watsco's return on equity of 17.59% beat Air Lease's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Lease	15.65%	8.01%	1.89%
Watsco	7.04%	17.59%	12.09%

Which has more volatility & risk, AL or WSO?

Air Lease has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watsco has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Watsco beats Air Lease on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.