A. O. Smith (AOS) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lennox International has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith currently has a consensus price target of $86.71, suggesting a potential upside of 20.86%. Lennox International has a consensus price target of $583.92, suggesting a potential downside of 6.63%. Given A. O. Smith's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe A. O. Smith is more favorable than Lennox International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Lennox International	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has better valuation and earnings, AOS or LII?

Lennox International has higher revenue and earnings than A. O. Smith. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lennox International, 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	$3.85B	2.70	$556.60M	$3.80	18.88
Lennox International	$4.98B	4.47	$590.10M	$21.06	29.69

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AOS or LII?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Lennox International shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of A. O. Smith shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Lennox International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith received 76 more outperform votes than Lennox International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.89% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote while only 47.50% of users gave Lennox International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 466 61.89%	Underperform Votes 287 38.11%
Lennox International	Outperform Votes 390 47.50%	Underperform Votes 431 52.50%

Is AOS or LII a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Lennox International pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. A. O. Smith pays out 35.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lennox International pays out 21.8% 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 raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Lennox International has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor AOS or LII?

In the previous week, A. O. Smith had 17 more articles in the media than Lennox International. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for A. O. Smith and 7 mentions for Lennox International. Lennox International's average media sentiment score of 0.50 beat A. O. Smith's score of 0.41 indicating that Lennox International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Lennox International	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AOS or LII more profitable?

Lennox International has a net margin of 14.63% compared to A. O. Smith's net margin of 14.41%. Lennox International's return on equity of 148.52% beat A. O. Smith's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A. O. Smith	14.41%	30.09%	17.83%
Lennox International	14.63%	148.52%	23.94%

Summary

Lennox International beats A. O. Smith on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.