A. O. Smith (AOS) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith received 77 more outperform votes than Lennox International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.77% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote while only 47.39% of users gave Lennox International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 467 61.77%	Underperform Votes 289 38.23%
Lennox International	Outperform Votes 390 47.39%	Underperform Votes 433 52.61%

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%

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 2.0%. 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 and A. O. Smith both had 7 articles in the media. A. O. Smith's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat Lennox International's score of 0.66 indicating that A. O. Smith is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
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

Which has more risk & volatility, AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lennox International has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, 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	$3.89B	2.55	$556.60M	$3.80	18.01
Lennox International	$5.15B	4.29	$590.10M	$21.06	29.44

Do insiders and institutionals believe in AOS or LII?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Lennox International shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Lennox International 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.

Do analysts prefer AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith presently has a consensus target price of $83.17, indicating a potential upside of 21.54%. Lennox International has a consensus target price of $579.38, indicating a potential downside of 6.56%. 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)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14
Lennox International	2 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.23

Summary

Lennox International beats A. O. Smith on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.